The Family
by TricaLee
Summary: Au: Magneto wasn't able to get his hands on the Senator and found another subject instead. He got more then even he expected or even wanted.
1. Default Chapter

THE FAMILY

by TricaLee

Disclaimer: Don't own the X-Men.... I wish I did! I own Bell so if you want to use her, ask first.

Reviews would be nice.

SUMMARY: AU: Mystique works for Xavier and Magneto wasn't able to get his hands on the Senator, he had Sabretooth grab any person he wanted to... to test his machine on. The results were more then even he expected or ever wanted.

Rating PG-13 might go up, we'll see Subject: Humor/Romance/Adventure

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CHAPTER 1: HOW TO MAKE A MUTANT, FIRST FIND A NORM 

She was walking in the park in the dark, something that she knew was dangerous, but she didn't care, she knew no one cared. She had nobody or nothing to live for, at least at that moment. She stopped walking when she heard something in the bushes and felt eyes upon her. A mugger, an animal? She sighed. What did it matter? She gasped as the blonde, hairy, fur dressed giant, stepped out of the bushes and growled at her. She calmed from her surprise. Oh, it's one of those mutant guys, is all. She sighed. And the she took a deep breath.

"Hey, tall, hairy and somewhat handsome, what's up?" She saw that his eyebrow arched in surprise. Then he grinned, exposing his elongated canines, to his surprise it did not frighten her.

"You are!" He laughed and picked her up and threw her over his left shoulder like a bag of potatoes.

"OOOFFFF!" She felt the air rush out of her lungs as she landed over his shoulder. "Why does all the weird stuff happen to me?" She asked herself a loud. "You want to put me down there sport?" She said only a little louder with a lilt in her voice. She wasn't really scared, the way she was feeling at the moment she was only mildly irritated. She felt him rumble as he laughed at her. "Gee does this mean we're engaged?!" The woman asked sarcastically. That only made the jolly blonde giant laugh louder and he trotted off carrying her out of the park like she'd weighed nothing. She groaned. "This has not been the best day of my life, and by the looks of it, it's going to get worse."

He tossed her in the back seat of a large customized car she saw that it had him written all over it. He got into the driver's seat and she heard the doors lock. She sighed and with a long standing habit she did up the seat belt. She heard the deep chuckle of her kidnapper. She rolled her eyes; this was going to be a long night. She gripped the seat and was certain he was going to peal out and hotrod it to wherever. Her giant blonde kidnapper laughed and chuckled as he drove like a maniac down the street of the city. It was surprisingly empty and quiet. And since she needed one...there wasn't a cop in sight. Go figure! The car sped away with no hindrance of any kind it was making good time. He pulled into a private airstrip and screeched to a halt. It was a good thing she had put on her seatbelt for she would have ended up in the front seat. Her ears rang with the big man's laughter. 'Well, at least he was having a good time, that's all that matters', she thought. She undid her seatbelt and waited for him to unlock the door and drag her out of the car. 'I wonder if he's going to kill me', she mused. The giant unlocked the doors and swiftly got out of the car opening the back door. She half expected him to yank her out, but he did not.

"Okay, I'm coming; I know when I'm outmanned and outgunned." She grinned ruefully. She got out of the car and stared up at the huge guy. He smiled at her and picked her up and threw her over his shoulder again.

"You know, I **can** walk." She said patiently. He responded with a loud guffaw and smacked her on her rump, sharply. "**HEY**!!" His only response was to laugh even louder, he was having fun.

"I begin to like you, sweet." He said in a deep voice, in a surprising gentle tone.

"Oh, lucky me." She was rewarded for her dour tone with another smack on the rump. "Aw!!! Come on, cut it out!!!!" The giant ignored her and carried her towards a hanger with long strides that ate up the ground and they were in the hanger in mere moments. He put her down in front of a fancy helicopter. He turned to open the door and she fled. It caught him by surprise because until then she had been a rather passive hostage. It took only a few strides to catch up and he grabbed her. He threw her over his shoulder again, but this time she struggled. "Put me down, put me down. I don't want to fly....I can't fly!! No!" Kicking wildly she shrieked and growled and put up quite a fight. He put her down in front of the chopper again and grabbed the front of her coat and lifted her up to his eye level. She immediately calmed down and stopped fighting panting heavily.

"You may either fly awake or unconscious...you're choice." He was amused that she was afraid of flying, but not of him.

"But I don't like to fly." She said in a quiet voice, almost whispering.

"Don't worry. I'm a good pilot. You'll be fine." 'Why was he being nice to her?' It wasn't in his nature to be nice. But he liked her, and the fact that she was afraid bothered him for some reason. He was beginning to regret his choice. 'Let her go and find another. But Eric was adamant about the subject should be healthy, and she smelled and looked healthy enough. He was also running out of time.' He opened the door of the chopper and motioned her to climb in. She bit her lip nervously. Taking a deep breath, she climbed up into the helicopter and sat down in one of the seats and buckled up. She was grateful that it was nighttime and she wouldn't have to watch the scenery go by. The giant climbed into the pilot's seat and began the start-up procedures. It wasn't long before it was making a loud noise and the rotator blades began to spin very fast causing the wind in the hanger to become fierce. The chopper lift from the floor of the hanger and they were off. The boast of him being a good pilot was not an idle one, for they left without any trouble or alerting anyone save the watchman who was on their payroll. The pilot looked behind him in the passenger area for only a moment. He noticed that she was sitting very still and had a death grip on the edge of her seat with her eyes screwed shut.

It was a fairly long trip and no matter how terrified the woman was she couldn't keep awake and she had fallen asleep. He landed on the pad on the island, and she didn't wake. Good. He shut down the aircraft and went to unbuckle his acquisition and picked her up and carried her in his arms carefully so that she wouldn't wake.

"Ya worn't supposed to kill the subject." An off colored fellow said in an English accent. He glared at the big guy as he brought the woman into the main part of the base.

"She not dead, Toad," He said angrily. "She just asleep, it's been a long flight."

"Whot did she do....**Volunteer**?" Toad said caustically. His accent became more pronounced with his sarcasm.

"Practically, I think she likes me."

"She must be mad. Better take her to the boss, he's pitching a fit 'cause you're late as it is." The man said. The woman woke up and wrinkled her nose.

"Damn! Who needs a bath, and why haven't you brushed your breath yet?" The woman woke up and glared at Toad.

"Hey! Mind your manners, bird!!" He said angrily. She snickered at him.

"What's the matter? Can't take the truth? I mean you really reek. When's the last time you changed your clothes, huh?" She scolded him like family.

"Well, hey, what about him. He does not excusably smell like a rose himself!" The smaller man whined.

"He smells like a man, while you on the other hand, smell like you've been soaked in old pond water and set in the sun for a month." The large giant laughed and snorted at his comrade in crime.

An older man with gray hair and a regal barring came into the area. "Finally." He looked at the woman in the large man's arm. "I told you I wanted a subject, and you come back here with one of your floosies." He said angrily.

"Who you calling a floozy, buster!" The woman exclaimed.

"She's the one I chose. She's not a floozy, at least not yet." He grinned.

"Hey!"

"Very well, bring her." The older man said.

"Excuse me, but it was a long trip. You got a little girls room or something?"

"Yes, well alright. Sabretooth show her to the facilities. Don't try to escape."

"Riiiiight. Well, I've tried that already and the blonde Paul Bunyan here caught me in a few strides, so I'm not trying that again." She said matter-of-factly. She looked up at her kidnapper. "Sabretooth, huh? I kinda like that." She smiled at him. "Seems to suit you, you're more like a Cave Lion if you asked me. Or maybe a step back towards one of the older forms of Homo sapiens, you know, big, tough and hefty." She prattled on as Sabretooth carried her to the facilities. "Sexy."

After taking care of her um business and throwing some water on her face she realized she was in real trouble here. But to her surprise she didn't seem to care all that much. Life for the past three years had been horrible and she didn't know when it was going to stop being horrible. She dried off her face and looked into the mirror. All she saw looking back at her was a very unhappy, unattractive, lonely, depressed woman of little talent and a dead-end job that she just got fired from; few friends and no future; and pitifully average. She heaved a great sigh that sounded like death warmed over even to her. She opened the door and walked out and faced her abductors.

"So, um what's up...doc?" That got a smile from the elderly man and a chuckle from Sabretooth, Toad only rolled his eyes. She turned to him and said. "Are you going to take a shower, is that why you're here? I really hope so."

"Bloody, Yankee birds ain't got any couth att'all." Toad said angrily. Sabretooth laughed.

"Well, actually Toad. She is right. Even I shower now and again. When the last time you did, when Princess Di was alive?" Toad growled at the big man and was ready to leap at him.

"Now, children....Behave." The elderly man said sternly.

"Wow dad, you've got some strange kids there! Did you need a sitter for them or a mother?" The woman said with a little humor in her voice. Even the elderly man chuckled.

"Bring her, Sabretooth." He ordered. Sabretooth picked up the woman and tossed her over his shoulder again.

"Hey! I told you I can walk!" She protested.

"I like carrying you." He said.

"I noticed. Hey my ribs are getting kind of sore, would you please put me down?" Her only answer was another swat, a little harder this time on her butt. She only grunted this time. He didn't seem to be the easiest man in the world to reason with. They kept moving until they reached a dark cave where she could barely see some strange looking equipment that was in the center of the cave.

"Put her in the chair, Sabretooth." The elderly gentlemen ordered.

"Yes, Erick." Sabretooth responded. 'So the elderly gent had a name' the woman thought. 'Joy.' She was placed in a metal chair that was extremely hard and cold. Her ankles and wrists were clamped onto the chair.

"You know your people are scared of my kind." Erick said in a tone like he was instructing a class of students.

"You mean, mad scientists. Sure you got my vote for being scary. I'm not letting your looks fool me. Just because you look like my Uncle Mike doesn't mean you're not dangerous." She was startled by the fact that the chair began to follow Erick as he walked down some kind of runway and she heard no machinery of any kind.

"No, I mean mutants. Your kind is afraid of them: of us."

"You must be talking about someone else. I don't have a problem with mutants. We are all mutants. I mean, every living thing on this planet was the result of mutation. At least that what my dad always said."

"Well then, maybe you belong to our group, after all." Erick said as the chair came to a stop. He climbed up into a chamber and gripped onto something that looked like handles. For the seconded time she felt fear grip her stomach. She was strapped down in a chair and he was going to do something unpleasant to her. She saw Sabretooth frown disapprovingly. At Erick, she assumed. She watched him carefully and he seems to concentrate. The machine he was standing on started humming and the large rings above him began spinning and spinning around faster and faster. A brilliant white light started to emanate at the top center of the device where the rings connected. It started to flow, and grow like a wave on the ocean until it filled the whole cave and washed over her.

Pain!!! Like she never felt before! Hit her in waves and wouldn't stop! She screamed and screamed in both pain a fear. What was he doing to her?! Why did he want to do this to her? Finally what seemed like a year, the intense pain stopped the bright light receded and the humming rings stopped. She slouched into the chair panting; every part of her body was throbbing. She looked up with such a pained look on her face and in her eyes, that even Toad was affected. Toad went over to Erick and pried him out of the handles and helped him down from the machine and he leaned on him. They struggled by and Erick leaned down and whispered tiredly into her hear.

"Welcome, sister." She looked at him with something akin to pity and sorrow. He closed his eyes and hobbled away leaning heavily on Toad. Sabretooth walked slowly over to the chair and without a word unclasped the shackles that held her to the chair.

"I know that I said I could walk, ever since we met, but I can't now. I hurt so very much." She spoke barely above a harsh whisper. Sabretooth merely nodded and gently picked her up and carried her to the cell. Fortunately it had a nice bed in it and he placed her carefully on it. He saw her gulp a few times and he went over to the sink and got her a glass of water which she drank quickly. "Thanks." He said nothing but nodded and left. She lay on the bed and tried to sleep.

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CHAPTER 2: THE PAIN OF BECOMING A MUTANT 

The hours passed slowly for the woman in the cell. The pain she felt was now constant and getting worse. A fever had started and it raged and buckets full of sweat poured off of her in almost a stream of moisture. Sabretooth checked on her and became angry with Erick with each passing minute. He stalked the halls of the base with a great sense of purpose.

"Erick! We need to talk!" Sabretooth growled angrily.

"Watch your tone, Sabretooth!" Erick said with a great deal of authority. He didn't like his minions to be so self assured.

"I am, that's why you're still breathing, Erick!" Sabretooth said snarling. "This machine of yours it too strong...she's dying. I can smell it."

"It's just a transitory stage, Sabretooth. She will be alright." He said trying to soothe the large man.

"Dream on, Erick. She's dying and we both know it! Using that machine on the summit conference will just turn the world against mutants even more." Sabretooth said huffing with anger.

"Then I'll just adjust the machine. I'll tone it down. I'll need you to get another subject for the next test."

"Next test! Erick, the first time almost killed you...And that other mutant is no longer available!" 'Why on earth did he get involved with this man anyway?' He turned to go and heard Erick give him another order.

"Get rid of the failure and bring me another one. And don't waste any time, we don't have." Sabretooth huffed in reply. Erick may look like a frail old man in his sixties...seventies, but like must dangerous things, looks could be deceiving.

Sabretooth went to the cell and looked at the woman in the cell, writhing on the bed covered with her sweat...dying. She was gasping and groaning, and sounded as if she was struggling for every breath. He opened the cell door and went inside. She turned to look at him.

"I'm not doing so good." She stated calmly, her voice gurgled, quietly.

"No, you're not." Sabretooth said quietly, and gave her some water. "We are leaving here." He picked her up in his arms and he carried her out of the cell.

The trip to the mainland was longer or it just seemed longer. All that he could hear was her rasping breath. They landed at the private airfield that they had left not too long ago. He took her out of the chopper and put her in the car. They drove a ways towards some woods.

"Are you taking me to a doctor?" She asked between gasps.

"No. No doctor can help you." He said sadly.

"I didn't think so. Where are you taking me?"

"Somewhere nice, and quiet...beautiful."

"Oh, good." She coughed up some blood. The scent of her blood hit him like a brick to the face. She heard him growl. They drove for awhile longer, and then he stopped the car and got out and opened the trunk. He took out a blanket and went to get her and he wrapped her into it tightly. He carried her into the woods. It was a special place for him, surrounded by civilization, but still a wild and untamed place. He got to a slight incline that looked over to the lake. The moon was shining a bit thru the clouds and reflecting on the water softly. He placed her on a comfortable tuff of moss and leaned her up against his torso. She grabbed him by the hand, and her short, sharp fingernails dug into his palms as spasms of pain course thru her body.

The pain in his palm was just a slight nuisance, even when he started bleeding. His healing factor took care of the openings and sealed them with no problem. "Sorry." She whispered harshly.

"It's not a problem for me." He stated quietly and placed the other hand on her back, stroking it in a comforting way. Nothing more was said for almost an hour when Sabretooth heard and felt something in her change. Her breathing had slowed and quieted. At first he thought she was close to death, but her scent had changed. The fever that he had felt in her hand was almost gone. She slid down off of his chest where she had been leaning and placed her head in his lap, still holding on this hand, but the grip had slackened, relaxed. She was asleep now; the mutation that the machine had awakened in her was finished. Was he wrong that she was dying? No, his nose didn't lie to him. She had been dying, so why hadn't she?

"Hey sweet, wake up." He said to her, gently shaking her.

"Five more minutes, dad...Okay?" She said sleepily. Sabretooth chuckled. She woke up with a start. "Hey! Why aren't I dead?!" She exclaimed, surprised.

"Good question, sweet." He stared at her at amazement her eyes were glowing a dark red. She was now glowing; her body was wrapped up in a bright white aura. Her eyes went from glowing red to glowing white while he was watching. It hit him, she had been holding onto his hand for an hour. What if she now had the ability to mimic talents? He didn't feel a drain or weakness of any kind. She had somehow, without thinking adapted his healing factor to herself. She had been healed, and then some. She began to change and grow. He watched in fascination while she changed into someone totally different. She stood up and he got to his feet with her. She was still holding his hand, and he felt her hand getting larger and watched breathlessly as she transformed before his very eyes to a female version of..... himself! Only she was softer, and quite beautiful to see. She was now built along the lines of a well muscled female wrestler, with long blonde hair and bright dark eyes, which sent a tingle down his spine and made him feel too warm to breath. No woman had really ever done that to him before, at least not in a long while.

"Uh, Sabretooth? Are you alright? You look like you've just seen a ghost." He smiled. Her voice was now deeper and huskier. It made his throat tighten up and his breath come in short pants. He almost chuckled at her confused look. She didn't realize what had happened to herself. "I feel different." She stopped talking. "Is that my voice?" She asked in surprise. Sabretooth could only nod; he didn't even trust himself to say anything. "What is that smell? And the noise....I can see things here that weren't here before! What's going on?!" She asked him slightly panicked. He only smiled and since he still held her hand he quietly led her to the lake. She noticed that it didn't seem so hard to keep up with him, and she felt taller?

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CHAPTER 3: THE IMAGE OF A NEW MUTANT 

She looked into the lake at her reflection. "Who the hell is that?!" She exclaimed, turning to Sabretooth with surprise in her eyes.

"You....now." Sabretooth said softly. "It seems that your mutant power is mimicking other powers. I have a healing factor that heals any and all harm to my body in mere moments, or hours, depending on the damage done to it. I also have heightened senses, eyesight, hearing, smell, taste. Very much like an animal's senses. Though why you became a female me, only prettier, is beyond my pitiful learning." He chuckled.

"I'm almost as tall as you are." She stated. She looked down at her hand and saw that her hands were larger then they were originally and had some fine looking nails on it. They were longer, and they looked sharp and strong. She looked at Sabretooth. "If I let go of your hand, will I become me again?" Sabretooth shrugged.

"Do you want to find out?" He asked with a sinister grin. She nodded. She stared at the hand that was holding his. It was like they were made for each other. She kind of chuckled at the thought. 'I guess I am', she thought. Sabretooth smiled at her almost knowing what she was thinking.

"So you want to count to three?" He joked.

"Sounds like a plan." She said.

"ONE. TWO. THREE!" The both shouted together. They released each other's hand at the same time, and waited and waited. They stared at each other for several minutes not saying anything. She cautiously looked down at her hands with one eye closed and peered at her hands. Nothing at all had happened to her. She was the same now as when she had held Sabretooth's hand.

"Hey... the new and improved me!" She twirled around trying to get a good look at herself. "Well, at least I didn't grow a tail." She grinned. "Whoa, what's that! It's a rabbit!" Before she realized it and before Sabretooth could stop her she started chasing after it. He chuckled at her new found instincts, it had been awhile since he chased rabbits, and he admired the speed and quickness of her pursuit. She soon had the rabbit by the scruff of the neck. "Gotcha!'

"Excellent! So, do you want me to start a fire, or are you going to eat it raw. It looks a little scrawny to me." Sabretooth smiled at her, she looked so embarrassed.

"Umm, you're right. It's just a baby after all." She put it down and it took off running for its life again. Sabretooth's hearty laugh filled the forest. She joined him and the trees echoed with their mirth. "I just don't know what got into me."

"The primitive instincts and urges that now are part your life is hard to resist sometimes. Takes a bit of practice, there's nothing to be ashamed of, although it's been awhile since I've chased rabbits. Do it mostly for fun, except when I'm in the wild, then for food."

"Yeah, well it was kind of small and I'm hungrier then that." She gave him a shy grin. "You know, I don't even think I know your real name. I haven't told you mine either." She said turning a little serious.

"Sabretooth is my working name. Victor Greed Walker is my legal name." He gave her a little bow.

"I don't have a working name...yet. My name is Belinda James. My dad just called me Bell." She bowed back.

"I like that. Bell. Suits you to a tee." Victor said smiling.

"Victor is a great name for you, fits you rather well, too." She said back at him. Victor heard her stomach rumble. She blushed again.

"I know a great all night place that serves the best steaks, an all you can eat place." He looked at her and pointed. "But first we have got to get you some clothes." The transformation had left her clothes in tattered rags. Victor was surprised the he was being such a gentleman; she was practically naked and incredibly sexy as far as he was concerned. 'She was doing a lot of blushing tonight', Victor thought. 'Never thought that blushing would be such a turn on.' She went back to the spot that he had originally brought her here, and retrieved the blanket. She wrapped herself in the blanket and he grieved for his poor eyes being deprived of her beautiful body. 'Oh, well, there's plenty of time later.' Her nostrils flared at the unidentified scent coming from Victor. "That scent is called lust, my dear. But I can wait until later." He saw her take a relieved breath. Too much too soon.

"Victor what about Erick?" She asked.

"What about him?" Victor retorted. "I never liked the plan from the beginning. He's perfectly mad and real dangerous. I only was working for him for the money, but no money is worth driving the norms insane. What he plans to do, will only backfire on him. I have tried to tell him, but I'm only the grunt." Victor said, sounding angry. Bell looked a little scared.

"He's planning to use that machine of his on a group of people, isn't he?" Bell said.

"Yeah, at the summit conference . . .you know the one with the world's leaders."

"Is he insane?!" Bell exclaimed. "That would start a war against mutants like the world hadn't seen since...Hitler against the Jews, gypsies and his political opponents." She finished softly.

"Yeah, ya think a survivor of the Nazi prison camps would be smarter then to start something that would lead to the same thing. So far, most of the proponents to mutant rights have been keeping things like that from happening. Erick wants to make the leaders mutants so they can see what it's like to be one." They stood quietly for a time.

"We can't let him do that! I used to be just a regular human, and I know how they'll react to something like this. It's like a mule or burro, you know, pull harder on them and they dig their back legs in deeper...the harder you pull the deeper they dig in."

"Yes, and the more you say no, the more they want to do it. And they don't like to be forced. Come to think of it, neither do mutants."

"Yep. We have got to stop him." Bell said strongly, and she was interrupted by her stomach growling again.

"But first, food and clothes! Clothes first." Victor snickered. "They'll never let you come in looking like that." Victor chuckled. He waited to see if she would blush, she did. Her now sensitive ears picked up a ring from Victor's long coat. He reached into his coat and pulled out a cell phone. "What do you want, Erick?" Victor asked. "Yeah, well I got some errands to run first. I do have a life, ya know." Victor said to Erick with a hard voice. He hung up on him and put the phone back into the inside pocket of his coat.

"Come on Bell. I know a gal that can put together a set of clothes in a hurry." Victor said grabbing her hand and leading her back to the car.

"It's kind of late...Umm.Early Victor. Who would be willing to suit me up?" Bell asked. Victor only chuckled and opened the passenger side of the front seat. "The front seat, really! I guess I've been promoted, huh?"

"Oh, yeah." Victor and Bell got into the car and left the forest behind. Victor had a plan. If he was right about her, then he would make sure she met some of his friends. He smiled at the look Erick will have when they arrived back at the base.

* * *

CHAPTER 4: WHAT THE WELL DRESSED MUTANT WEARS 

It was predawn and the new senses that Bell had were making her feel a bit giddy. She watched things go by and saw then like she hadn't ever seen before. 'Is this how animals live? No wonder they are the way they are.' She thought to herself. She noticed Victor's body scent even more then before, and was intrigued on how to perceive anything that was so hard to interpret.

"It comes with practice, Bell." Victor said calmly.

"How did you know what I was thinking? Are you telepathic?" Victor chuckled.

"No. You are putting out the scent for confusion."

"Oh. I guess I have a lot to learn." Bell sighed. She did not know where to begin.

"I'll teach you, pet." Victor said, driving down the street towards the fabric district. The city was starting to come to life as people who started work early were making their way to their jobs. He saw the building he wanted and parked behind it. "Come on Bell. Let's wake Angela up. She really shouldn't be sleeping in anyway. I hear there's a movie being shot here next week and they usually use her to help with the wardrobe." Victor said as he helped Bell out of the car. Bell was having a little trouble navigating. She still hadn't quite learned to judge her new space. She thanked him and pulled the blanket closer to her. The predawn air was still on the chilly side. Victor went to the door and pressed a buzzer and pressed the buzzer. It buzzed and buzzed. He waited until a sleepy voice grumpily said.

"I'm up, I'm up. Whatcha want?" A woman's just -got -up voice grated into the intercom.

"Angela I need to see you....now." Victor said into the speaker.

"Aw man, Victor....I'm not in the mood right now...Got a very, very busy day ahead of me." She whined, sleepily. Bell snickered quietly. Victor shot a hard look at her.

"No Angie babe. It's business. Got a customer for ya, a very special customer." Victor said.

"Alright Vic, I'll buzz you in. Be down shortly. Make yourselves at home." The door buzzed and unlocked and Victor opened the door and they both walked in. The followed a narrow hallway that opened up into a huge room that was filled to wall to wall with the makings of clothes. Racks of finished clothing were filled in all different makes and colors of clothing. Bolts of fabric were stacked in neat piles sorted by color, pattern and textures.

"Wow! This is so cool!" Bell said in joyful awe. "MMMM. smells nice in here." She could almost tell how new the dye was on each bolt of cloth. She turned to Victor and grinned. She was tempted to go over and hug one particular bolt of cloth, merely from the look of it, it looked very soft.

"Let's go wait over here," Victor said staking her by the arm. "Angie might say make yourself at home, but she gets real ticked if someone messes with her fabrics. He led her over to what look like a reception room that had huge couches and overstuffed chairs in it.

"UUUrrrrrwww. A leather chair!" Cooed Bell and she went over and plopped down on it settling herself deep into the seat with almost a purr. Victor chuckled.

Victor went to a small area off to the left of the room and entered the little kitchen and began to make coffee.

"French roast! My personal favorite!" Shouted Bell from the chair. Victor grinned. Impressive, he hadn't even opened the packet yet. He had only filled the urn with water, and put in the filter. He then tore open the packet and poured the coffee grounds into the filter, closed up the urn and turned it on. It was good thing that is one of the smaller urns, or it would take the rest of the morning to brew it. Angie would probably want a mug, now! Angie was not a morning person, but she did get up early. Her staff of tailors, fitters and cutters would not be in until after seven o'clock. They had been an item for several years, off and on. She was intrigued by his animal side and he just like the way she put her self into her love making. She was a good screamer and scratcher. She could hold a decent conversation too. It surprised him that a Rhodes Scholar would become a fashion designer but he guessed it took all kinds. He went back into the reception room and sat down on the huge sofa. He eyed Bell who had snuggled deeper into the chair she looked at him sleepily and yawned. He noticed that she had his canines, and grinned. She might be hit on by a lot of men, but when they see those teeth, it might just cool them off pretty fast. 'Just as well,' he thought, 'she's mine!' Of course he'd have to ask her first if she would be. And he still had a small matter to deal with. But he had that feeling it wouldn't be a problem.

The coffee was almost ready and Angela came down from her apartment over her workplace. She was tall, lanky and she looked more like her models then her models did. She did have some meat on her bones, and she had lustiness about her. Bell sat up and gave her a sniff. She frowned, 'when did I start doing that?' She asked herself.

"Vic, babe!" Angela exclaimed and ran to him and jumped into his arms and gave him a big hug and series of kisses. Bell found herself growling at her. "Whoa, Vic, I didn't know you had a sister." Angela said cheerfully.

"I don't." Victor said. "She's the one I want you to fit some clothes for. Could you make it fast? She hasn't eaten in a couple of days." Angela looked at the seated woman and hmmmed thoughtfully. "Stand up dear. Let's see what we have to work with." Bell stood up. "My goodness! She's nearly your size Vic!" She took a thinking stance and put her hands on her hips. "You know if I have to start from scratch, it would take quite a while to make her some clothes." She looked a Victor. "I still have some of your clothes that I finished for you. If you really wouldn't mind, I can alter some of them for her. Just for the time being. I'll measure her and in about.....say....three days, we could have a fairly good wardrobe for her. Some nice night dresses too, if you are willing to pay extra." She grinned.

"Not a problem, I'm not strapped at the moment." Victor said smiling. "Hey Angie, have you seen Brad?"

"Brad Pitt, he was in here a few days ago." Bell thought, 'She knows Brad Pitt?!!! Wow!'

"No, not _that_ Brad." Victor chuckled.

"Oh, _him._" Angela said sarcastically. "Yeah, I've seen him recently. He's staying over at Jake's Bar and Grill. Why anyone would stay there voluntarily when they're as rich as he is...well, it's beyond me." Angela said disapprovingly.

"He likes to rough it." Victor said laughing.

"Yeah, Jake's would be roughing it, alright." Angie said with a snobbish sneer.

"You know Brad Pitt?" Bell asked. Angie only hummmhummed.

"And his lovely wife too. I just love to design clothes for her, she just too cute. They're a nice couple. You don't find many nice couples in any business, much less show business." Bell turned to look at Victor.

"Don't look at me Bell, I never met them." Victor said handing Angie a mug of coffee. He did know how she liked it. "So you like your coffee, how?" Victor asked Bell.

"I like it with sugar and creamer, if there is any. Lots of creamer, if you don't mind." Bell said to Victor. Angie had just started to tape measure her and whistled every now and then at the measurements she was getting.

"Wow, Bell darling. You aren't that much smaller then Victor. I'll be able to get you into some of his clothes and give them a feminine touch to tone down the masculinity of Vic's clothes." She looked down at Bell's feet. "I think that a set of Vic's boots will be just a little big, but with a couple pairs of socks it should be a perfect fit." Angie said.

* * *

CHAPTER 5: JUST LIKE NEW 

Angie was finished with Bell before her workers started to show up a few hours later. Bell's stomach groaned and moaned almost constantly since arriving at Angie's shop and she was too hungry to be embarrassed any more. As the three of them looked at Angie's handiwork, Bell's jaw dropped as she looked in the full length mirror. 'Was that her?!' She could not believe it. Erick's machine had turned her into another Victor, a lady Victor!

"You know, sweetie, you look like Vic's twin sister. Really you do." Angie said looking at her handiwork. "Don't worry, though, I will fem up the next set of clothes for you. I think I can even do a few pairs of shoes." She looked at Victor, and he nodded. "But I do think that high heels are out." Angie said with a grin.

"Yeah." Bell said somewhat sarcastically. "That almost goes without saying." She gave a rueful grin.

Victor and Angie conducted business, while Bell studied herself in the mirror. 'The new me,' she said quietly aloud. Angie had brushed and styled her hair a little and put some make-up on her to tone down her likeness of Victor. The resemblance was still there, but not so bold face striking now, for someone to think that she was a he.

After another half hour, Victor and Angie did some serious negotiations and Victor took the new and improved Bell to his favorite all you can eat 24 hour day place. The morning light shown in the diner and Bell spent the first few minutes just taking in the scents and sights of her new and improved abilities. She just couldn't get enough of the scent of bread and pastries baking. Many of the customers ordered the traditional pancake breakfasts and she decided to do that as well.

Victor decided on steak and eggs for the time being and had a good time watching Bell dig into her breakfast. Someone turned on the television to watch the news.

* * *

PART II 

CHAPTER 6: THE MUTANT THAT GOT AWAY

Two days before Sabretooth and Bell where sitting in the diner, he was tracking down the mutant that Erick wanted. He tracked her to a small hamlet in Canada.

The girl got down out of the huge rig and turned to the truck driver. "I thought you were takin' me to Laughlin City." The driver gave her a sad smile and closed and locked the door.

"This is Laughlin City." He walked away and she looked around. It looked like every other little frontier town she had been passing thru these last days. She was hungry, tired and she had no money. She went into a bar and was immediately assaulted by smoke, yells, and the harsh smell of beer and other alcohols. She slowly walked over to what looked like a large cage, and saw two men dragging a prone man from it. In the cage was two other men, one with a microphone and the other had his back to her. He was shirtless and had a very muscular back. He had dark hair, and he kicked back what looked like scotch whiskey like it was water. He took a long puff from a cigar and it looked like he was chewing gum as well.

"Gentlemen, in all my years, I've never seen anything like this. Are you going to let this man walk away with all your money?!!" The man with the mike said. There was a chorus of noooo's!!! from the crowd. One large man with a beard, wearing a black t-shirt with a fierce looking dog on it and tan khaki pants got to his feet.

"I'll fight him!!" And he was cheered by the crowd. He walked down from the stands and took off his jacket and entered the cage with confidence.

"Our savior!" The announcer called out. He covered the mike with a hand and said lowly to the new arrival. "Whatever you do, don't hit him in the balls."

"I thought it was anything goes."

"It is, but he'll take it personal." The announcer said and left the cage and closed the door. The new arrival instantly attacked the bare-chested man and threw him against the cage with savage hits the man hit the floor of the cage and t-shirt and began to attack him with a series of kicks, before his opponent could retaliate. The man keep kicking and kicking and then kicked him where he shouldn't have.

"You idiot!" Called one of the members of the audience. The girl saw the down man get up with the most determined and angry looks on his face, and faced his attacker. The black t-shirted man threw a punch and the now standing opponent met fist with fist. The larger man screamed and grabbed his hand as if he had hit a brick wall instead of flesh and bone. The girl gasped as the fight was over before she knew it. The man had only hit his opponent twice and he head butted the other and the big bearded man with the mad dog t-shirt was out spread-eagle on the floor of the cage. The winner growled cracked his neck and kicked his sleeping opponent and went back to his corner for another drink and smoke and leaned against the cage while the announcer interrupted the boos and jeers of the crowd.

"Ladies and gentleman, tonight's winner and still king of the cage.....The Wolverine!!" He said with great aplomb. The girl was astonished. How could he possible do that?

After a few hours later the girl found herself sitting at the bar staring at the TV and a jar of tips. The man from the cage came in and order a beer and sat down smoking his cigar staring at the TV as well listening to the announce talk about the up coming summit. Every on and then he stole a look at the girl in the cloak at the bar. Her scent was almost familiar. He was startled at how beautiful she was and young. Probably a runaway and broke as well. He could hear her stomach growl even from where he was sitting. The loser from the cage came up and tried to start a fight with him saying that he knew what he was and that he owed him some money. The loser pulled a knife and he heard the girl scream, "Look out!!" With years of practice and quickness that he had the man was quickly disarmed and Wolverine found himself pulling his claws on the man. He should have held his temper and not popped his claws. The barkeep pulled a large shotgun from under the bar and held it up against his head. The Wolverine only growled and sliced the gun in half. After listening to some insults, he huffed straightened out his jacket and retrieved his cigar and stalked out of the bar.

Early in the morning the Wolverine got into his truck and began his long trip to another town for another fight. After driving a while he noticed that something wasn't entirely right about the trailer. He stopped got out and saw that his tarp had an unusual bump that wasn't there before. He thumped it. The tarp rose out of the trailer and the girl emerged from it.

"I'm sorry, I needed a ride, and I thought you would help me." She said with a southern accent. He caught the familiar scent again. She was family. He wasn't quite sure how closely or how she was related to him, but the unmistakable scent was hard to miss now with only the fresh mountain air tinged only with snow and trees, instead of smoke, men and booze. If she wanted a ride and some help he was under obligation to assist her any way her could.

"You know kid, if you wanted a ride. All you had to do was ask. You enjoy riding in a freezing windy trailer do you?" He smiled kindly at her. She was taken somewhat aback. Is this the same man? He voice was gentle and kind and he didn't seem so fierce now.

"I wasn't sure, I mean....." She couldn't finish her sentence. He shook his head. He knew what her problem was it was like most people, she wasn't sure of what to make of him now that he wasn't the cage fighter Wolverine. He held out his hand to her and helped her out of the trailer. "Thank you." She said in that wonderful voice and smooth accent. He smiled.

"Don't forget your bag, darlin. Come on the truck is at least warmer then the trailer." She grinned at him a practically jogged to the truck. The truck had obviously seen better days, but the camper was in better shape and it had a hominess about it that was pleasant. She climbed in and put her bag in the back of the truck and looked at the traveling home that the Wolverine had.

"Kinda nice." She said and smiled at him.

"Thanks," He said and watched her take off her gloves and rub her hands trying to warm them. He turned up the heat and tried to move her hands to the heater vent. She jerked away and gave him a stern look.

"I wasn't going to hurt you kid." He said softly.

"It's not that. It's just when someone touches my skin, they get hurt." The Wolverine raised his eyebrows and thought 'Whoa!'

"Fair enough."

"You got anything to eat?" The girl asked. The Wolverine reached over and opened his glove compartment and handed her some fruit roll ups that he like to carry around for energy. She attacked the packet and ripped it open and devoured the dried fruit like it was a feast. He watched her and thought I really need to get her more food. She's starving. After eating the fruit she pulled down her hood and looked at him and said.

"I'm Rogue." She looked at the driver expecting something in return.

"What kind of a name is Rogue?" He asked her.

"What kind of a name is Wolverine?" She asked back.

"Logan. My name is Logan."

"Marie."

They drove in silence for a while then she said, "Don't you think you should do your seat belt?"

"Hey, I don't need auto safety lessons from a gir-----" And suddenly the truck came to an abrupt stop. Logan went flying threw the windshield and slide many yards in the snow. As far as Marie knew, Logan was dead. She struggled to get out of the seat belt and she smelt smoke. The propane tank wiring had started a fire and it started spreading thru out the truck bed with his belongings catching fire. She looked out of the windshield and saw Logan get to his feet and noticed that he was somewhat unsteady but alive and standing, wiping his forehead. He staggered over towards the truck, and Marie watched in fascination as his forehead closed up almost instantly. He looked at her with concern.

"Ya all right kid?" He asked. She just stared at him bewildered. "Are you hurt?" She seemed to come to her senses.

"I'm stuck!" She shouted and tried to pull her seatbelt out of its floorboard buckle. He started going towards the truck again and then stopped. She saw him flare his nostrils. He turned his head.

"Hey Vic! What are you doing here?" He called as a huge man charge out of the woods roaring. He attacked Logan with the swiftness of a lion on a zebra. Logan was unprepared for the attack. He didn't expect his query to be answered with an all out attack. "What? I paid you the money I borrowed from you!" Logan said tumbling to the snow and getting to his feet. Suddenly six metal blades came out of his hands. Vic attacked again but Logan was ready and dodged it.

"It's nothing personal, James....Just business." Vic said, plying his attack against Logan.

"Don't tell me you're working for some of the losers that I fought. None of them have the kind of money you charge." He heard Victor chuckle.

"Too true, Jamie, too true, and this is not about you." And the battle continued for some hair-raising moments for Marie as she watched the huge man and her new friend went at it. She was certain that the crowd of last night had not seen such a fight before and would probably pay good money to see what she was seeing now. What bothered her was the fact that they seem to know each other. She saw Logan get thrown into a tree with a great deal of force and he fell to the snow with a thud. He looked up dazed at Victor who had approached him carrying a tree trunk. "Sorry about this James, but like I said....It's just business, nothing personal." The large man swung the tree trunk like a baseball bat and Logan went flying... landing on the hood of his truck, unconscious. His claws retracted quickly. Victor put down the trunk and started to walk towards the truck when his momentum was stopped by a huge wind blowing against him with a snowstorm in his face forcing him to bring up his arms to protect his eyes. He saw two people, a man and a woman standing across from him. The woman seemed to be making the wind blow harder and the snow fall his way. The man reached up to his face and pushed a button on his goggles that covered his eyes, a bright red light shot out of it and hit Victor squarely on the chest.

He flew over into the trees and landed against them and fell to the snow and landed on his feet. The man was going to shot again, but Victor dodged it. They continued the light fight for a bit and Victor was finally defeated. He had to leave. The woman opened the door of the truck and the man used the red light to cut the seatbelt strap that was trapping Marie in her seat. The woman offered Marie her hand and she took it with no hesitation. The man in the red goggles grabbed Logan off of the truck and threw him to safety and covered Logan's head as his truck exploded in a great ball of fire.

* * *

CHAPTER 7: FAMILY REUNION 

Logan was waking up and found himself lying on a hard platform in a large room that smelled like medicine. He caught the scent of a woman that was standing next to him. What was going on? She had a familiar scent about her as well. Just like it to be one of those days. Don't see any relatives in almost two decades and suddenly without warning they were everywhere. Rose....she smelled like Rose. He kept his eyes shut and laid still and waited for something to happen. She felt his hands and took him gently by the arm. She pressed a syringe needle against the inside of his elbow. He reached up and grabbed her by the arm.

"Don't you ever ask for permission to take blood from a patient, darlin?" He sat up quickly that surprised her.

"I'm sorry; I thought you were still out. Do you want to release my arm, please?" His eyes bored into her own eyes and his eyebrow rose to an incredible arc.

"Are you Jennifer Grey's daughter? You have that look about you." He said stating a fact instead of asking a question.

"You know my mother?!" She asked with great surprise.

"Yes. You must be Jeannie. I should have realized that you would become a doctor. You are a doctor aren't you?" He smiled. He took her breath away; he was so masculine and handsome, she felt a connection to him right then. He chuckled. "Down darlin'. We're family." He smiled and got off of the examining table. "You got some clothes for me, Jeanne?" He turned to her waiting for an answer. When she didn't answer him he continued to talk. "So where am I? And what happened to my truck. Is the Marie alright?" He asked that question with more urgency. Jean shook her head to clear it from the confusion that this man who she had never met, that claimed that he was family; was now asking her with no fanfare what happened while he was out.

"Uh, well, you're in New York, your truck blew up and Marie is in here in class right now." Jean said recovering.

"Class, New York? How did I get to New York, and how long was I out for?" He asked Jean. He stared at her, how was it possible that she looked just like Rose? Hell, she even smelled like her. Jean was wearing her red hair in a bun like Rose used to. He swallowed, it had been awhile since he thought of her even; and there she was standing in front of him....Or at least in a strong resemblance...very strong.

"Yes, well this is a school and we're in Westchester, New York and you've been out since my fiancé and a friend brought you and the girl here by jet." Jean Grey explained. "It's morning. Hungry?" She asked.

"Yeah, but some clothes please. Was anything salvaged from the truck?" He looked at her and she kind of had a 'not likely' look on her face that answered that. "Damn, you mean I lost everything? Even my bike?! Oh man, is he gonna pay for that!!" The man growled. Jean laughed a little at that. "Not funny, darlin'. That bike was a classic, had it for years."

"Yes my fiancé has a bike he's rather fond of so I know how you are feeling."

"You an empath?" He asked.

"I'm a telekinetic and slightly telepathic." Jean said.

"Well at least that's consistent of the talents that run in the family."

"I don't even know your name except that Rogue says that you told her it was Logan. And I never even heard of a Logan in my family." Jean said a bit put off.

"That's because I went by another name then. You'd be surprised how many names I've had over the years, and how long I've been around." He smirked. "Odds are you have heard of me."

"Oh, really." She was becoming somewhat angry at him. His whole demeanor was getting under her skin.

"Really. Let's see if I can remember my original name, hmm let's see. Oh yes now I remember. James Howlett. That was my birth name." He was pleased to see Jean's eyes widen and her jaw drop open. He chuckled. "Oh, you have heard of me then?" He smiled at her. Her mouth worked but nothing came out. She suddenly realized who was standing there before her. She had heard stories of the adventure James. James that went to war and rode with the Rough Riders, the soldier that won medals after medals for acts of heroic proportion, James her great-grandfather who was her favorite grandmother's husband. Her great grandfather....standing in front of her looking like he was in his early thirties!!!

"Oh my god!!! You really can't be him!! You just can't!" She exclaimed. He cocked his head at her.

"Why not?" He raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"But you'd be ancient! You look almost as young as I am!"

"Healing factor, my dear, a very good healing factor. So are you going to get me some clothes or am I going to have to run around practically naked." He smiled at her.

* * *

CHAPTER 8: CATCHING UP 

Jean could only stare at him in muted awe. She never expected to meet the man her beloved Grandma Rose told her so much about. Logan waved a hand in front of her. "Earth to Jeanne, yo! You there?" He continued to wave his large hand in her face and he whistled. She seemed to come out of her daze.

"Oh, yeah, ah right then. The girls washed the clothes that you were wearing and I patched the shirt up for you." She went over to a cabinet and took out his freshly laundered jeans and top and jacket. "I got you some new socks, the others were rags. She said handing him his boots with a pair of brand new socks.

"I have been meaning to get new ones, just haven't gotten around to it yet." He didn't seem to be a bit embarrassed at all by anything. He took his clothes and boots and looked at her. "You got a bathroom in this place, or what?"

"Oh, just over there, ummm. What do I call you?" It was a dilemma, here he was a real live ancestor of hers and she really didn't know how to handle it. She thought maybe he could be conning her, but he knew who she was and who her family was, and he had arrived basically dead to the world.

"Thanks, darlin', and you can call me Logan. That's what I'm going by this decade at any rate." He smiled, and she found herself understanding the fondness that Grandma Rose had spoken of him and why. He was a charmer.

A little bit later after he had gotten dressed, Jean led him thru the school towards the Professor's office. Logan looked around him in interest and seemed as if he was memorizing the layout of the school. He quickly got out of the middle of the hall to stand next to the wall, and Jean was bewildered until a herd of boys thundered down the hall talking loudly.

"How did you know they were coming?" Jean asked.

"Heightened senses dear; hearing, smell, eyesight, taste. All heightened to a very fine edge. If you want I can tell you what they are talking about. If you're interested." He smiled.

"No, not really. I believe you." Jean led him to a door that looked like the wood paneling of the wall, very chic. Jean opened the door and walked in without even knocking. Logan saw a bald man in what appeared to be in his sixties behind a desk with kids of varying ages in a circle around the desk. He was giving some last instructions to them. A chalkboard had a complex problem on it that looked vaguely familiar on it. Logan quickly solved it in his head. The children filed by him giving him curious glances. One young girl had left her purse behind and she retrieved it and then trotted out thru the door. The odd thing about that was the door was closed.

"Whoa! I guess she would hard to ground, huh?" Logan joked.

"Good morning Logan. Would you like some breakfast?"

"That sounds good. You cook too, along with teaching physics?" Logan smiled. The man wheeled his chair around the desk; Logan could see that it was as motorized wheelchair.

"Actually we have several cooks here at the school." The Professor smiled. "I'm Professor Charles Xavier. Welcome to my school for Gifted Youngsters."

"Gifted? Yeah, I noticed. I sure could have used this school with my last set of kids. Let me tell you...they were a handful. So, why did you bring me here?"

"The mutant that attacked you is named Sabretooth, and he is an associate of a very powerful mutant named Magneto." The Professor went on to explain.

"Sabretooth?! Ha! Is that what he's calling himself these days! Who would have guessed he'd have such an appropriate name."

"You know Sabretooth?" Jean asked, surprised.

"Oh, yes for a very long time now." Logan stated simply. "What's a Magneto?" Logan asked to get back on track. He was curious as to why Vic would attack him.

"Magneto is a very powerful mutant that felels a war is brewing between mutants and the rest of humanity."

"This Magneto, does he have a regular name?" Logan asked, but he had his suspicions.

"His name is Erick Lehnsherr." The Professor said.

"Yeah, that kind jof tickles my memories a bit. Let me think a moment or two." It looked as if he had gone into a mediational trance.

* * *

FLASHBACK: 

Logan is back in a large plane sitting nest to two other men while and officer of Special Forces is briefing them on there mission. "Alright boys, this is a very fast rescue operation." He said to the men sitting on the bench.

"How fast?" asked Logan, cautiously.

"The plane is going to fly very low over the target and you are jumping out of the plane...without parachutes."

"Hot damn!" Exclaimed the big man sitting next to Logan. "Now that's fast. Sounds like fun!" He said laughting.

"I'm so glad you're having fun." Logan said sarcastically. Then he grinned at the big guy. The third man chuckled softly. The officer doing the briefing, rolled his eyes

"We coming up on the target, sir!" A loud voice came from the cockpit.

"Alright men, get ready" The officer said motioning them to the open hatch.

"I was born ready!" The big man said, standing up.

"Really? I never heard our parents mention that once." Logan grinned.

"That's because you were always sick, little brother." The big guy thumped Logan on the back and nearly pushed him out of the hatch.

"Hey! Watch it, Bub!!"

"Alright you two, behave yourselves." Said the third man quietly and the big older brother immediately calmed down.

"Sorry little brother. So shall we hunt some German's"

"Yes let's!" Shouted the team as one.

"Time to go, go, go!!!" Shouted the officer and the three men jumped out of the plane and into the German's compound. Two of them landed on the roof of one the offces and crashed threw, the third, the large brother landed on two high ranking officers.

The two German officers were immediately knocked unconscious. But the large man thanked them anyway for the soft landing. Laughing he charged at the men that were becoming aware that the compound was being invaded. The big man continued to laugh as he dodged bullets and raced over and knocked the guards into the wall of the building with very little fuss. Logan chuckled as he saw his brother charge at least a company of eight men and didn't even stop to take out his gun. Logan and his companion broke into a sturdy building and addressed the huddled group of men, women and children that were held there.

"Everyone, I think it's time to leave." Logan said in English and the in German. The prisoners came to life shortly and raced out of the building, a young boy seemed unable to, he had a bad injury to his leg. Logan picked the boy up and slung him over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. "Hang on there kid, we are leaving this place!" Logan said and his compain burst threw the Germans like linebackers in a football game. Several German soliders threw some hand grenades at them. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the boy wave a hand and the grenades returned to the soldiers that threw them. All of the prisoners were getting to the gate without injury thanks to Logan's brother and the third man. They finally reached the gate as infantry pulled up and took over for the trio, much to Logan's brother's chagrin.

It took only a few minutes for the compound to be secured by the Allies. The former prisoners were being helped into a large truck. Logan put the boy he was carrying carefully in the truck.

"That's a neat trick you got there son. What's your name, kid?" Logan asked the boy.

"Erick, Erick Lehnsherr." The boy said smiling at his rescuer.

* * *

"Yeah, I know who you are talking about." Logan said. Xavier bieng a telepath saw Logan's little flashback and nodded. 

"You also go by the name of James, or Jim, don't you?" The Professor asked.

"Used to, well, off and on. Sometimes ya just have to keep it fresh. Besides, people start getting suspicious when the same name keeps cropping up over so many years."

"Yes, I would supposed that would be true." The door opened and one of the most beautiful women that Logan had ever seen, walked gracefully into the room. She had white hair and most wonderful carmel colored skin. He was instantly taken with her. She had a scent that tickled his nose enticingly. A tall skinny young man was following her; he was wearing dark ruby colored sunglass and a dark outfit and was grinning at Jean engagingly. Jean smiled back at him. Logan caught the scent of attraction from them both. He cocked an eyebrow at the man and wondered if he was worthy of his great granddaughter.

"Allow me to introduce some of our teachers here." The Professor said. "This is Ororo Munroe, also called Storm, and Scott Summers, also called Cyclops." The Professor introduced them respectively.

"A pleasure to meet you, Mr...." Ororo said.

"Logan, my dear, call me Logan...no mister." Logan took the woman's hand and kissed it speaking in a calm gentle language, not English. Ororo was taken aback. She answered back in the same language, and they conversed for sometime, until Jean said.

"Uh, excuse me? But could you two speak in a language everybody understands?"

"Oh, sorry Jean, it's just been so long since I've spoken my mother tongue." She looked at Logan. "How did you know? Are you telepathic?" He chuckled at her.

"Well, no I'm not. Your name and your accent gave you away. I speak a lot of different languages and I can write in most of them." He went on to explain.

"It sounds as if you would make a great teacher," Said the Professor.

"He would and has been, and there are few subjects he couldn't teach. If there were, he would soon learn them." Said a new voice coming from the door, it was a woman dressed in a grey pant suit. Logan could have kicked himself for not smelling her. He was so focused on Ororo that he didn't even hear or smell her coming.

"Raven!!!" Logan joyfully shouted and rushed over to her and picked her up and whirled her around.

"James you big lug! Put me down this instant!" Sh said happily belying her stern words.

"I assume you two know each other?" The Professor said smiling.

"No, not really....ouch!" Raven had deliever a sharp swat to Logan's arm when he said 'not really'. Everyone laughed and even Logan gave a rueful grin. "I'm usually a gentleman, so I won't tell you precisely how long I've know her. It's not polite to tell on a woman, especially her age." Rave gave him a sour look. Logan rubbed his arm where she had swatted him. "Come on Raven, can't you take a joke?"

"Not at my expense, James." She said in a teacherly tone.

"Call me Logan, Raven." He smiled at her and took a deep sniff. Something was bothering her...he could tell. She smelled sad, and worried. "Listen Raven, dear. We need to talk." He said in a low voice. She nodded.

"Well, it's nice seeing you again. But I have a class to teach." Raven said loftily. Logan rolled his eyes. She didn't seem like the Raven he remembered. But it had been quite some time since they've seen each other. No telling what's beeen happening in her life. He'd have to talk to her alone, later. He watched her walk away. Even her walk conveyed something was really wrong and he looked at her closely.

"I should ask about seeing Marie. But Jeanne said she was in class, so I guess I don't really have to worry about her too much."

"She taking history, that's my class, and I really should be getting back to it. No telling what is going on in my absence." Ororo said smiling. It took his beath away. Damn, if he wasn't in love again.

* * *

CHAPTER 9: THE SOB STORY 

Professor Charles Xavier took Logan on the grand tour of the school, showing him everything and explaining exactly what he was trying to accomplish. The final part of the tour was the hanger, where the Professor explained how when as a teenager he learned about his telepathy, and when he met Magneto.

"Convinced that mankind would never accept mutants, he became angry, resentful....He became Magneto." He turned to Logan. Logan was looking around him at the extensive hanger and its advanced equipment and wonderful jet.

"That's a shame. He seemed like a really nice kid when I met him all those years ago. But if I've learned anything...time..events...change everything. Pity." Logan walked over to the jet and put a reverant hand on it. "Mack Gifford...this was designed by Mack Gifford. Yeah, I'd know his work anywhere." Logan said smiling.

"That's right. When he was laid off by the government's new budget cuts, I snapped him up and gave him everything he needed and he went all out in his designs; and got the best workers, electronics people he could find. It's as advanced as anything that the government has, if not more."

"Oh, I bet Mack loved that!" Logan laughed. "Free rein, that is what he likes and works best at, but the government folks didn't see that. You know, I've been around the world and have done many things, but one thing remains consistent. All governments are populated by simple, narrow minded people with no vision at all. If they show any talent or promise they are instantly culled." Logan shook his head. Despite his someber mood, the Professor chuckled.

"All too true, Logan, my friend, all too true." The Professor said shaking his head. He looked at Logan and they shared some quiet time together. "Logan, isn't fifteen years of roaming the wilds of Canada and getting into those cage fights enough to purge your anger and grief?" Logan shot the Professor a hard look. He frowned. He rattled the question in his head awhile and looked at the man in the wheelchair.

'Wasn't fifteen years enough? Logan said to himself, he thought of the beautiful white haired Ororo and smiled. "Yeah, you're right. What are you asking?" Logan said quietly.

"For you to stay here, and teach, Logan...become one of us. Surely all that time alone is enough for you." The Professor said.

"Become one of you." Repeated Logan, barely above a whisper. Most of his decisions have been made spur of the moment, and why not another? "I'll tell you what, why don't I think on it and take care of a problem that seems to have come up and I'll make my decision then...Wheels." He smiled at the Professor mischievously.

"Fair enough, Wolverine." The Professor smiled at Logan.

"Okay, no more entering without knocking, capeshe'?" Logan said with mock severity.

"Understood." The Professor said, and Logan heard 'knock, knock,' in his head. Logan shook his head.

"Kids." He muttered and left the room with Professor Xavier rolling behind him chuckling. It had been a long time since he'd been callled a kid. He wasn't sure how old Wolverine, aka Logan was, but re really didn't want to know.

Having memorized the layout of the school, Logan was now free to roam the school unescorted. He found the kitchen no problem. It wasn't as large as the thought it should be for a mansion, made into a school. It was probably the living quarter's kitchen. The main kitchen was probably in another section of the school. All he had to do was follow his nose.

He opened the fridge and the cabinets. Rabbit food and health food litter both the fridge and cabinets. "Is there any meat in this fridge?"

"Actually very little, Ororo is mainly fruit and vegetables." Raven said, coming up from behind. "I see you have a thing for her already." Raven smiled. "Why don't I make you something to eat, since I know where everything is? You can fly, drive any vehicle; speak more languages then an UN interpreter; there isn't a marshal art you don't know; and a weapon you can't use....But...I bet you still can't cook." She actually giggled.

"Oh, quit tittering at me Raven!" Raven burst out laughing. 'That's much better.' Logan thought. But her scent didn't change all that much. "Fine, fix me something to eat, that way the kitchen doesn't get burned beyond repair. Well except when I make chili," He grinned.

"True." Raven said. She began to rummage thru the kitchen for breakfast makings. Logan sat down at the table. Raven gave Logan a mug of coffee. The pot was always kept on and coffee brewed.

She settled on making him the usual breakfast, eggs, bacon, toast. It wasn't such a big deal and it took very little time. She knew he was dying to question her. Feeding him would distract him long enough for her to think on how to tell him her story, but not inside the mansion.

Later after Logan had eaten his breakfast, Raven escorted him outside to a pleasant garden area where there were some comfortable lawn furnishings. Logan settled himself in a chair and sat back. He took out a cigar, and Raven stifled a sigh.

"Before you light up, would you be a dear and look and listen and smell the area for me please?" Raven asked politely. Logan raised his expressive eyebrow at her. "I want to make sure that there are no students listening in on us. This school has the best gossip speading newsline I've ever seen. This story is not for them to hear or spread aroud."

Logan nodded and cocked his head around and strained his hearing to the limits. He heard a group of boys playing basketball on the courts. He heard an angry voice saying, "Hey, no powers!" and the laughter that followed what appeared to be a basket. He chuckled, no powers, huh? Not very likely! His nose was working overtime and he could smell the vegetation and some aftermath of an outside picnic, probably yesterday's. But not the fresh scent of a person nearby except for Raven's delicate scent that still belied sadness...or was it regret.

"All clear Raven, so what's the story?" Logan asked. He waited patiently. He decided to keep a nose and ear out for intruders. Whatever she wanted to tell him was very serious.

"The story I'm going to tell you goes back a few years." Raven started after a deep breath. Logan nodded, although with them a few years could be more then most people's few years.

"As you know, my husband and I are not on the best of terms, oh, we tried to get our marriage going some 17 years ago....But there's something missing between us, and I believe our marriage is over. I sent him divorce papers two years ago and he hasn't signed them or sent them back to me yet. In fact it's been almost 17 years since I've seen him and 8 years since I've spoken with him." Raven said quietly.

"Seventeen years is a long time, even for us, to not see each other. You could have seen him at Monica's funeral. He was there, you could have spoken with him then." Logan interrupted.

"No, no I couldn't have. You see," Raven said and got abruptly to her feet. "I couldn't have gone to the funeral...I'm sorry Logan, you know, for your loss. You shouldn't have had to bury her so soon." She said with great regret in her voice.

"Yeah." Logan whispered. "Why couldn't you?" He asked curious.

"Because I was having problems that were to much for me, and to share them with you at that time. You were having your own problems. Grief is not something that is easily handled by itself. My problem was too much...even for me." She sighed and a tear rolled down her beautiful face smearing her make-up. Logan stood up and walked over to her.

"Whatever it is, you can tell me. I'd offer you a hanky, but I don't have one." She found herself laughing thru her tears. "That's more like it. Finish the story, Raven. And don't leave out anything. Can't help ya if ya do." Logan said smiling. "Come and sit back down." She nodded and sat back down in her chair.

"It all started about 18 years ago. That's when Erick basically started up his plan to um, to make normal humans see mutants for being superior...above them. Charles sees us as something different from them, not better. At first Erick's arguments sound alright, but after awhile I got to see a different side to him that he didn't show many people back then. He's not very subtle anymore. He scared me so I left him. He threatened to get back at me for my betrayal." She stopped to take a jagged breath.

"There's more, isn't there?" Logan asked.

"Yes, there's more. Remember when I said my husband and I tried to get back together?" Logan nodded. He didn't like the way it was going. "Well, after our brief time at trying to be married again, I found out that I was pregnant." Nope, didn't like where this was going at all. "I didn't tell him because I was certain the marriage was over and Erick was starting to make threats against me." Raven said. "Don't look at me like that. I was afraid for him, honest." Raven said firmly.

"I believe you Raven, but I'm not sure** he** will." Logan said.

"Yes, well you're probably right about that, anyway I had the child. I kept her for several years, and then Erick started tracking me down everywhere we went. I couldn't get away from him. He threatened to kill her." She saw Logan's face grow dark with anger. "I was putting her into too much danger. So I put her up for adoption. It was the hardest thing I had ever done. But to get her away from Erick, it was worth it. They were good people and they promised to take good care of her. I was almost certain she wouldn't become a mutant. But I guess I was mistaken. I have kept tabs on her thru the years and had not met her until....yesterday."

"Marie."

"Marie." Raven confirmed. "I can't believe that Erick would choose her to power his machine."

"What machine?"

"That machine he's been working on for the last ten years or so. It was just in planning stages when I was with him. He wants to turn norms into mutant so bad, it's not funny. I think Erick had finally gone over the edge." Raven said, fear in her voice. "I suppose he feels that it's karma that she's my daughter and he gets his revenge. The man is insane!"

"Wonderful." Logan said sarcastically. "And in using Vic to kidnap her... his revenge is twofold." Logan growled. He could not believe that this was happening. "I've got to find Vic and tell him everything." Logan said angrily. "Although I haven't a clue where to start to look for him."

"Ask Professor Xavier to find him for you. I'm sure he'll help you anyway he can."

"How's that possible? He's got a supercomputer or something?"

"Or something." Raven smiled sadly.

"You know, you're going to have to tell Marie. I doubt that it can remain a secret for long. If Erick finds a way to get to her, it would delight him no end to tell her as foullly as he can. I can't believe that this is the same Erick Lenhsherr. I just can't." Logan said sadly.

"Believe it. I wouldn't put anything past him. I doubt that Sabretooth knows the whole truth about his boss."

* * *

CHAPTER 10: TRACKING THE CAT 

After hugging Raven and allowing her to cry on his shoulder for a little while, he went back into the mansion to talk to the Professor. He found the Professor watching the news in the TV room. He walked over to him and stood quietly for a few moments.

"She told you." The Professor said.

"Yeah, she did. I really need your help. I need to find Vic and I need to find him fast." Logan said.

"Very well, Logan. Come with me." The Proessor wheeled his chair around and they headed to the elevator that Logan had used only this morning. He took him to the lower levels and they arrrived at a large door with an enormous X on it. There was a blue round glass in the center. The Professor went up to it and stopped. A bright light come out from it and scanned his eye. After a few moments there was a loud click, the door opened and a female voice saying, "Welcome Professor." The Professor rolled forward.

"Follow me , Logan." Xavier commanded. As they enter the doorway lights began flicking and and they continued to move up what looked like a catwalk that stopped in the middle of a huge sphere.

"Whoa, big round room." Logan said surprised.

"Welcome to Cerebro, Logan."

"What's this room for, Wheels?' Logan asked.

"This is how I'm going to find Sabretooth. Cerebro enhances my telepathic abilites."

"So how come you haven't been able to find Magneto with this?"

"He has found a way to thwart Cerebro."

"How can he do that?"

"Well, he did help me built it." Xavier explained.

"Oh," Logan realized that with Erick's special affinity with metal he was probably very good with machines and electronics.

"Do you want me to leave?"

"No. Just don't move." The Professor said putting on some kind of helmet. The room started to get dark, and suddenly the planet earth plastered itself of the wall of the sphere, with bright white lights everywhere. "The white lights are regular human beings, while," as he was saying this the white lights turned a bright red; "the red lights are mutants. You see Logan; were aren't as alone as you might think." He concentrated harder. "Ah, there he is." The Professor said pleased.

"Where is he?" Logan asked urgently. "On the outsirks of New York City." The Professor proclaimed.

"New York City is a lot of ground to cover. But I think I'll be able to find him." Logan started thinking of all Vic's hangouts and his place of residence...that is if he still had it.

"Hmmm, that's odd." It would seem he's on an island off the coast. Probably something of Erick's making. I don't believe that there are any islands of that size offically in that position."

"Sheesh! Erick must have some power there." Logan said.

"He's one of the most powerful mutants on the planet, even at his age. And with your metal skeleton you would be helpless against him."

"Thanks for reminding me. I'll try to avoid him if I can. I just want to talk to Vic."

"Logan, you're not forgetting that he hit you with a tree are you?" The Professor said trying to hide a smile.

"Hardly. But just like he said....It wasn't personal...just business. I can't hold it against him. And Charley....no probing." Logan said tapping his forehead.

"I'll see about arranging some transportation for you. Maybe Scott will loan you his motorcycle....if we ask nicely."

* * *

CHAPTER 11: ON THE HUNT 

After a while with a bit a frowning and mistrust, Cyclops reluctantly agree to loan his precious bike to Logan. With a smile and a kiss from Jean the deal was sealed. Cyclops could not deny Jean anything when she used both a smile and kiss. Jean and the Professor went back into the mansion leaving Logan and Scott alone in the garage.

Scott dug thru his pockets and brought out some keys, he reached up and grabbed a helmet off a shelf and put the keys inside of it and tossed it to Logan.

"Here. If you are going to be riding my bike...you are wearing a helmet." Scott stated as Logan caught the helmet with ease.

"I really don't need a helmet." Logan said smiling.

"Yes you do. One it's the law and another it's my bike, if you don't it's no deal. Besides the visor will keep the bugs out of your eyes and off your teeth." Logan wouldn't say it out loud but he was inpressed that Scott was not intimated by him. "Oh, there's a little extra thing I added to the bike. Just in case you need it. See that silver button?"

"Yeah."

"If you want a little extra speed, just push it." Logan felt like Scott had a wicked gleam in his eye, even behind the visor. Logan thought he was mistaken, because the feeling went as soon as it came.

"Okay. Thanks. I'll try to bring it back in one piece." Logan said grinning wickedly.

"Good, and don't forget to fill it up before returning it." Scott nodded. "And another thing, not to mean I like you, but be careful...Sabretooth is no slouch." Scott said with a warning.

"I'll try to remember that." Logan gave him a rakish grin, took the keys out of the helment; put it on and inserted the key and turned on the bike. He smiled broadly when he heard it start up. It looked powerful just sitting there, but running he knew it was, he reved it up, put the kickstand up and before Scott could say good-bye...Logan was riding out of the garge and out of the gate.

"Good luck, Wolverine. You're going to need it." Scott Summers said out loud in the garage.

Ah, this was the life, Logan thought as he rolled on the road with the wind whistling in his ears and the bike rumbling under him. He really liked this bike. When he got his hands on Victor, he was gonna make him buy him a new bike...Just like this one; maybe just a bit better.

After about three or four hours of steady traveling, Logan need to take a break from riding and get something to eat. He stopped at one of the truck stops and walked in. Being hungry, it takes not much to get his juices flowing with his enhanced sense of smell. He walked over to a booth and sat down. A waitress, a young one, probably with his luck her first day on the job, came over with a menu.

"Good day sir, may I get you something?"

"Some coffee to start and I'll have a look at that menu. What's today's special?" Logan asked.

"Pork chops, mashed potatoes with gravy and peas, with steakhouse rolls." The waitress said with practice. Logan frown a bit and thought about it.

"Sounds good sweetie, why don't you get me one of the specials then." Logan smiled at the her and she flushed a bit and took the menu back.

"Yes sir. I'll bring you your coffee in a moment." She returned to the pass thru to the kitchen and clipped his order slip to the rotating rack with the others.

Logan spent some quiet, pleasant moments just sitting and watching the other patrons and the trucks and cars come and go.

All that came to a screeching halt when he heard what sounded like his waitress screaming.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:_ How this following scene came about I don't know, didn't plan it. I just wanted Logan to stop for a bite and a map, and flirt with a waitress or two. I guess he can't help himself...got to go help a damsel in distress._**

* * *

"Let me go you big jerk!" Gruff male voices were laughing at her, and Logan's blood started to boil. He dropped his head almost to his table. 'Why did the other members of his gender have to be such barbarians?' He stood up and followed the sound of the scuffle. 

Sure enough there was a group of unkempt men sitting around a table and one of them had the young waitress in a tight grip, holding her on his lap as she struggled to get free.

"Aw come on honey, you know you want me. I'm a real man."

"Real men don't maul the ladies, BUB!" Logan said dangerously.

"Oh look sweetie pie; it's your hero from table 10 or something." The big thug said mocking her sweetly.

"Let me go! Put me down!" She screamed angrily. The big thug stood up and kept a grip on her. He was huge. Almost as large as Vic was, but that wasn't necessarily an advantage.

"You heard the lady, put her down now." Logan said firmly. Big Thug tossed the waitress hard away and she fell heavily to the floor. Logan heard a snap coming from her arm and she screamed in pain and held her arm and howled. Oh, man! He did not mean for that to happen!

"You big jerk, you broke her arm." Logan growled at him.

"PFFFT, she's okay." Big Thug said scuffing.

"No she's not. And you need to leave here now. I doubt very seriously that the owner or manager likes customers that injure his waitresses. Logan said. He could see that several of the truck stop employees had already gone over to the down waitress. What looked like the manager told one waitress to call 911 and the police. Big Thug probably didn't hear that, but Logan did.

"Like I said." Logan said much louder. "You need to leave now. You've caused enough damage for the day." The group of rowdies didn't even blink, they were not afraid of one lone man. Logan sighed. He had dealt with this kind all his life and they just kept springing up. There seemed to be an unlimited supply of this species of bully. His heart's desire was to make this species extinct. They laughed and looked at each other.

"Is this guy stupid or what?" One of them asked the group.

"Yeah, ya sure look like it to me." Logan said spitefully. The laughing stopped. The restaruant got very quiet. The only sounds now was of the waitress crying, and gasping in pain.

"Man you just earned yourself a world of hurt.." Big Thug said. Why did they always have to say that? Logan just rolled his eyes.

"Get newer material, bub." Logan scuffed. That got the desired effect. Big Thug charged him, but Logan had been ready since the girl broke her arm. He decided that this guy was far too much trouble hale and hearty, so with swiftness and before the thug had a chance, Logan broke the guy's arm and kicked him in the knee which brought Big Thug down quickly and hard screaming in surprise and pain.

"Bet that didn't feel very good." Logan joked. He cocked his eyebrow at the remaining bullies and they seemed a bit reluctant to take him on. Verbal bullying was something else, but what this guy did to their friend in a matter of seconds was something different all together.

Sirens were heard in the background as a Highway Patrol car pulled up. "I believe that's your cue to leave, right boys?" Logan said precisely.

* * *


	2. Chapter 12: THE FINE ART OF HANDLING BU...

CHAPTER 12: HOW TO HANDLE THE BULLIES LESSON 1

The group of stunned rowdies just looked at Logan and their friend laying broken and groaning in pain.

"I thought I told you boys to leave. Why are you still standing there?" Logan said. He addressed them as if they were naughty boys that had been caught spying on the girls in a girls gym shower. "If you boys don't start making for the exits, I'm going to have to get rough. So far I've been going easy on your friend. You could easily be next." Logan took a readied stance that left no doubt that he was willing and able to go after them as well. The confidence in his eyes and in his manner was enough to get one of the younger members of the group to sprint for the door. That was all the rest of the group standing around needed for them to also bolt for the door. Two of Big Thug's friends bent down and picked him off of the floor. The restaurant was clear of rowdies and Logan crouched down to the waitress.

"I'm so sorry, darlin' I didn't want anything to happen to you. I underestimated his attitude." Logan said to the hurt girl gently.

"It's alright. He's been coming here for awhile and he and his gang's been giving us a hard time." The girl said bravely trying to hold her pain inside.

"That's a bad break, although it looks like a clean one." He turned his head to listen outside, there seemed to be a raucous going on.

"Hey, Hank, I've got those men that you've been complaining about. One of them seems to have a busted arm and a shattered kneecap." A Highway Patrol man said as he entered the restaurant.

"Thanks Ben, I will be pressing charges against them," Hank the manager said as he looked down at the girl with the broken arm.

"The ambulance is on its way here." Ben said.

"Good."

"I don't need an ambulance. I can drive to the hospital." The girl said. The manager gave her a stern look.

"Jessica, don't you dare give me any guff about this, or I'll tell your mother. She never wanted you to take this job anyway, and neither did I. You have better potential than that."

"But dad...." Jessica started. Her father interrupted her.

"No buts, none, nope, nada! That is final." He glared at her and she immediately stopped her protesting. "Besides, this broken arm will give you the time to rethink the course of your life. You can go to college. In fact I want you to go to college." He said firmly.

"It's too late, for starting college." Jessica whined.

"Actually, it's never too late; you can enlist in classes now without missing too much." Said Logan. He smiled at her. She flushed red, though Logan wasn't sure if it was from him smiling at her, or the pain of her broken arm. The girl's father looked a Logan with something akin to gratitude.

"I'll think about it." The girl said.

"Well, you will have time; it takes about three to six weeks for a broken arm to heal and sometime after for it to be strong again." Logan said reassuringly.

"You sound like you've had medical training." Hank said.

"Some, I've been a medic in the service, and I was married to a doctor too." Logan said smiling.

"You were in the service? Well, that explains the moves you made on that creep who attacked my little girl."

"Daddy, I'm not a little girl anymore." The girl said testily.

"Don't be silly, you'll always be daddy's little girl. I know I've got a passel of them myself, and even though they are all grown, they will always be my little girls." Logan said with a gleam in his eye.

"No offence. But you don't look old enough to have grown girls." The girl said. Logan only laughed.

"Well, I am and I do have that passel of girls I told you about. Want to see pictures, got lots." He took out his wallet and opened it up and a long strip of photos slotted in plastic unfurled itself. There were gasps as they looked at the pictures of very beautiful young ladies. One of the pictures grabbed Hank's attention.

"Hey, this is a picture of the President of the United States! Is the woman standing next to him your daughter?" Logan nodded his head. "Your daughter is the White House Chief of Staff?!"

"Uh huh, and this is a picture of her and her husband Randall and their little boy Brendan. Isn't he cute little guy?" Logan said proudly. The girl's jaw dropped, her arm didn't hurt as much anymore. This man's daughter works in the White House! She was the first woman to hold that office and she was rather young too. There was a big to-do about her not being able to do the job because she was a woman and young as well. But no matter what they threw at her, she was able to handle it with little or no trouble. She thought if she went to college maybe there was a chance that she could do something like that. She instantly made up her mind at that moment.

"Hey Ben," One of the patrolman came into the restaurant. "The ambulance is here. There seems to be a scuffle on who to take to the hospital. The guy with the busted arm and kneecap wants it."

"Oh, let him have it." Said the girl. "I refused to share an ambulance with him. Dad, you can take me in the car. I'm not that badly hurt." Hank saw a look in his daughter's eye and something in her voice. What happened in the last few moments might have repercussions for some time to come, and he couldn't thank this stranger enough. What might have taken years to accomplish was done in seconds. Hank stood up and looked at the stranger.

"I don't know how to thank you for what you've done." Hank said to Logan.

"I didn't do anything. I didn't even stop her from getting a broken arm." Logan said somewhat confused.

"You did. Her arm was only broken, what that bum would have done to her if you hadn't been here would have been worse." Hank said gratefully. Logan couldn't make any sense of what he was hearing and smelling. Something more was happening here that he couldn't put his finger on. He wasn't sure what he was missing. He patted the girl's unbroken arm gently and stood up refolding his photos. "Nice family you've got there, you and your wife must be so proud."

"Yeah, she would be if she were still around. I lost her when Andrea was in college third year. A drunk driver ran her off the road. She never saw her daughter graduate with honors." A dark look came over his face.

"Sorry. That's a damn shame. Hope that drunk driver got what for." Hank said. Logan shook his head sadly.

"No. He was a rich kid with a powerful family, he got away with it. Not even so much as a ticket." Logan said hotly. He thought he had put it behind him, but on occasions it surfaced. Hank heaved a great sympathetic sigh.

"Isn't that always the way." Hank said, gloomily. "Well, I better take my little gal to the hospital to have that arm set and cast. Bullies, a pain in the ass." Hank helped his daughter to her feet. "Hey Joey! Keep an eye on the place for me while I take Jessica here to the hospital."

"Sure thing, Boss!" Joey shouted from across the room.

"And Joey, Logan's meal is on the house. Give him what he wants, the best of everything." Hank said nodding to Logan.

"Really Hank that's not necessary." Logan said

"Yes it is. Look, just enjoy. Joey here is a great cook and I do owe you." Hank said smiling.

"We have a problem," said the patrolman. "The fella with the busted arm and kneecap wants to press charges against some mean tough dude." The partrolman looked around the room and he seemed to be searching for this mean tough dude. "Personally I'd like to give the guy a medal." Ben looked at his fellow patrolman and then at Hank and winked.

"Listen, George. The mean tough dude isn't here any longer. And I think that the fella with the busted arm and kneecap is in enough trouble already." Ben said cocking his head in a conspiratoral manner.

"Oh, right. Um I'll just put a APB out on this mean tough dude. Maybe we can find him...or not." George grinned. "Hey Jessie, are you alright? I could give you and your dad a lift to the hospital." He said to the girl.

"Thanks George, and don't call me Jessie. It's Jessica for the umteenth time." Jessica said whincing. The three men helped Jessica out to the patrol car and Logan felt all eyes of the restaruant on him.

"Mr. Logan, I'll have your lunch for you in just a few minutes." Joey said.

"Thanks, and it's just Logan." He smiled and nodded at the audience and went back to his booth.

Hank was not boasting idoly when he said that Joey was a good cook. Logan had one of the best meals he'd had in a long while. After finishing up with his lunch he went over to the cashier.

"Look, Mr. I mean Logan. Hank said you don't have to pay for your lunch."

"I know, but I want you to give this to Jessica. Tell her to buy something nice for herself, or a backscratcher. She'll need it." He chuckled as he handed Joey a couple of bills.

"You bet, Logan." Joey said taking the bills and chuckling along with him. He looked at the bills that Logan had handed him. "Wow! Are you sure that you want to give her this?!"

"Yes. I do. It's the least I could do since she broke her arm because of me."

"It wasn't you. Everyone knows that. Besides, you gave that bully a lesson that he won't soon forget." Joey said snickering.

"Yeah, it seems to be my lot in life to go around giving bullies lessons. Maybe I should start a school for them.....Nahhhh. They'd never come to class." Joey laughed. "Well, I'd better be getting on the road then. Thanks for lunch kid. It was great." Logan nodded and turned and went out the door and got on Scott's bike, put on the helmet; started it up and rumbled away. Joey put the bills in Jessica's tip jar. You just don't know about some people, he smiled. Some of them surprise you...in a good way.

* * *


	3. CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 13: IT'S NOT BUSINESS, ITS PERSONAL!

After another hour or so on the road after his stop for lunch Logan hit the outskirts of New York City. It was very busy at that time of day and he was getting a little tired. So he thought he would hit Vic's favorite bar first. He walked in and sniffed around. Not a nose tickling bit of Vic was in that place. He walked back out without getting a beer. He really didn't want one at the moment and he had other special places to hit.

The afternoon wore on and there wasn't a sign of Victor anywhere in the city....yet. It was getting late and the past few days were starting to catch up with him. His healing factor had to work hard to keep him alert. Logan had a storage area here in New York City and he went to the offices and paid for another five years. He went to his storage unit and opened it up. He walked in and turned on the light. Everything was were he left it. The security in that facility was very good. Logan had kept quite a few things of personal value over the years and some of it was quite valuable monetary. But to him the personal value was beyond price.

He went over to a wood wardrobe and opened it up. 'Might as well get some changes of clothes. Hmmm, some of these were a bit out of date. Oh, well. If I wait long enough they'd be in style again.' Logan muttered.

He opened a chest that had a great many photos in it. They were incased in protective plastic. He removed some of the recent photos in his wallet into the plastic holder. Then he packed the clothes that he had chosen to take with him into an overnight bag. He had several of them, just in case. Speaking of just in case, he opened a mini safe that was on the floor and reached in and brought out a fist full of cash. He closed and locked the safe. Gathering up the things he wanted he put the bike inside. He left and locked the door of the storage unit. Scott's bike should be safer in there then out in the streets. The hotel that he usually stayed in while in New York was only a short walk away.

Logan walked the sidewalk confidently. He never cared much for the big cities, but he could tolerate them for awhile. He was a country boy at heart and always had been. Monica however was a city girl and relished the trips into the massive city. Whether doing a medical conference or just shopping she loved it, and Logan indulged her. They hadn't lived in New York City, but in a rather smaller version of it just a hundred or so miles away; a harbor town, where he raised his kids. He avoided it now since he hadn't aged a day. Most of his friends, and fellow businessmen would have aged about 20 years or so, while he stayed the same.


	4. Chapter 14

CHAPTER 13: IT'S NOT BUSINESS, ITS PERSONAL!

After another hour or so on the road after his stop for lunch Logan hit the outskirts of New York City. It was very busy at that time of day and he was getting a little tired. So he thought he would hit Vic's favorite bar first. He walked in and sniffed around. Not a nose tickling bit of Vic was in that place. He walked back out without getting a beer. He really didn't want one at the moment and he had other special places to hit.

The afternoon wore on and there wasn't a sign of Victor anywhere in the city....yet. It was getting late and the past few days were starting to catch up with him. His healing factor had to work hard to keep him alert. Logan had a storage area here in New York City and he went to the offices and paid for another five years. He went to his storage unit and opened it up. He walked in and turned on the light. Everything was were he left it. The security in that facility was very good. Logan had kept quite a few things of personal value over the years and some of it was quite valuable monetary. But to him the personal value was beyond price.

He went over to a wood wardrobe and opened it up. 'Might as well get some changes of clothes. Hmmm, some of these were a bit out of date. Oh, well. If I wait long enough they'd be in style again.' Logan muttered.

He opened a chest that had a great many photos in it. They were incased in protective plastic. He removed some of the recent photos in his wallet into the plastic holder. Then he packed the clothes that he had chosen to take with him into an overnight bag. He had several of them, just in case. Speaking of just in case, he opened a mini safe that was on the floor and reached in and brought out a fist full of cash. He closed and locked the safe. Gathering up the things he wanted he put the bike inside. He left and locked the door of the storage unit. Scott's bike should be safer in there then out in the streets. The hotel that he usually stayed in while in New York was only a short walk away.

Logan walked the sidewalk confidently. He never cared much for the big cities, but he could tolerate them for awhile. He was a country boy at heart and always had been. Monica however was a city girl and relished the trips into the massive city. Whether doing a medical conference or just shopping she loved it, and Logan indulged her. They hadn't lived in New York City, but in a rather smaller version of it just a hundred or so miles away; a harbor town, where he raised his kids. He avoided it now since he hadn't aged a day. Most of his friends, and fellow businessmen would have aged about 20 years or so, while he stayed the same.

He entered the hotel and went to the check-in desk. He was recognized by the older clerk.

"Oh, would you like your usual room, sir? It is available at the moment." He said politely to Logan.

"Yes, thank you, Michael that would be fine." Logan signed in using the name that Michael knew him as. Logan took out some of the money he had gotten and paid for the room in cash. The clerk in training widened his eyes. That he had not seen yet, people paying in cash up front. "I'll only be staying for the evening, Michael. Just passing thru on personal business, I won't be staying any longer than that."

"Very good sir. Would you like your usual dinner sent up to you; or will you come down

to the Crystal Room for it?" The older clerk asked politely.

"To my room, Michael, I'll be sleeping in tonight." Logan said, stifling a yawn.

"As you wish, I'll have it sent straight away." Michael said handing Logan a key. "Good night sir."

"Goodnight Michael." Logan said and walks into the elevator giving Michael a friendly nod and smile.

"Sir, have you known him long?" Asked the clerk in training.

"Since I was your age, Pierson. You've seen that commercial with Dick Clark in it. Where the doorman keeps getting older and Dick Clark stays the same, haven't you?"

"Yes, sir." The clerk in training smiled, remembering.

"He just might be a relative; he too never age, or seems not to age. Either way, he does pay well, and never causes any trouble." He raised his eyebrow at the clerk in training. "I believe you need to answer the phone." Pierson simply pounced on the phone.

Logan reached his room and unlocked the door. The room was the same as always. The scent of the former occupants the aroma of cleaning supplies and that mint candy that they always left on the pillow.


	5. CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 14: IT'S STILL PERSONAL

He entered the hotel and went to the check-in desk. He was recognized by the older clerk.

"Oh, would you like your usual room, sir? It is available at the moment." He said politely to Logan.

"Yes, thank you Michael that would be fine." Logan signed in using the name that Michael knew him as. Logan took out some of the money he had gotten and paid for the room in cash. The clerk in training widened his eyes. That he had not seen yet, people paying in cash up front. "I'll only be staying the evening, Michael. Just passing thru on personal business, I won't be staying any long than that."

"Very good sir. Would you like your usual dinner sent up to you; or will you come down to the Crystal Room for it?" Michael asked politely.

"To my room, Michael, I'll be sleeping in tonight." Logan said stifling a yawn.

"As you wish, I'll have it sent straight away." Michael said handing Logan a key. "Good night sir."

"Goodnight, Michael." Logan said and walked into the elevator giving Michael a friendly nod and smile.

"Sir, have you known him long?" Asked the clerk in training.

"Since I was your age, Pierson. You've seen that commercial with Dick Clark in it. Where the doorman keeps getting older and Dick Clark stays the same, haven't you?"

"Yes sir." Pierson smiled, remembering.

"He just might be a relative; he too never ages, or seems not to age. Either way, he does pay well, and never causes any trouble." He raised his eyebrow at Pierson. "I believe you need to answer the phone." Pierson simply pounced on the phone.

Logan reached his room and unlocked the door. The room was the same as always. The scent of the former occupants, the aroma of cleaning supplies and that mint candy that they always left on the pillow; was hard to miss.

Logan tossed his overnight bag to one side and decided before he went to sleep he would take a shower. Despite his healing factor his muscles were sore, from the riding and the injuries from the day before. Vic better have a very good reason for using him as a ball.

Just as he finished his shower, room service brought him his usual dinner. He gave the nice youngster a good tip, not a great one but a good one. The youngster gave him a smile and bade him a good night and Logan did the same. Before eating he gave Professor Xavier a call.

"Sorry, Wheels I haven't been able to find him today. I'm going to get some sleep and start looking before dawn. If he's here, I will find him." Logan said firmly.

"Yes, well be careful." The Professor said.

"I'm not worried. After all he said it was business not personal, so I'm not really going to be in any trouble with him. He's the one that's in trouble with me. He owes me a new bike....and a truck." Logan added devilishly.

"Yes, well, I'll let you two work it out, just don't bring an innocent bystanders into it." Xavier said chuckling.

"Don't worry, Chuck. I plan to just talk to him first. Well, my dinner's getting cold and I really need some rest. Hopefully I'll see you tomorrow. Good night Chuck."

"Good night, James." The Professor countered. Logan felt himself smiling. He hung up and attacked his supper. He turned on the TV and there was some blonde haired Senator going on how dangerous mutants were. Logan stared at the screen with hard eyes.

"Dangerous mutants, huh, what about dangerous Senators?" Logan muttered. "Ya gotta lot of nerve, bub!" He growled at the Senator. He clicked off the TV that was too much TV as far as he was concerned. He finished dinner, turned off the lights and climbed into bed. "Politicians, bah!" He turned onto his side and went to sleep.

Michael was still on duty when Logan left the hotel before the sun came up. He got Scott's bike and began the hour stealing process of locating Vic. The sun was finally up and three hours passed with little or no luck. Not a scent of Vic anywhere in his usual haunts. He felt his stomach rumbled. He was hungry; he had left before the kitchen staff was up and hadn't had breakfast. Oh, well he couldn't locate Vic on an empty stomach; he would need the nourishment if things got out of hand.

Logan went to a all night diner, basically a 24 hour place, it did have some of the best food around and Vic was known to frequent there as well, maybe he would get lucky. He pulled the bike into the parking lot and noticed that there were a few cars there. One in particular stood out. It was a huge muscle car that was customized to a fair the well. The license plate stood out. GRRRRRR was the personalized plate message. Logan chuckled, hmmm. "Damn, that looks like something Vic would drive." Logan pulled along side it. He looked inside. The inside was just as customized. He noticed that it looked like it had plenty of leg room. He took a sniff. Yep. Vic's scent was there. Another scent attracted his attention as well. He had someone with him. It was feminine, no surprise there, women were attracted to Vic. It was the beast, he supposed. Probably the same reason they were attracted to him. He shut off the bike parked it and took off his helmet and walked into the diner. One of the waitresses met him.

"Chair for one, sir?"

"That's not necessary. I see that my party is already here, I'm late...as usual. I'll just join them over there." Logan said and walked casually over to Vic and his companion.


	6. CHAPTER 15 BROKEN HEARTS AND FRIED EGGS

CHAPTER 15: BROKEN HEARTS AND FRIED EGGS

Victor could smell James approaching and he had his back to the door which was for him out of character. But it was only a diner and not busy at that. But for some reason he wasn't all that surprised that Logan had tracked him down. He was rather good at that. But this was quick even by Victor's standards.

"Hey Vic." Logan said, approaching Victor quickly. "Sorry I overslept." Logan went on keeping the charade of meeting someone.

"That's okay, James. Been eating, not missing you at all. Got company as you can see." Vic said not even looking up at his visitor.

"Yeah, I can see that." Logan said looking at Vic's company. She was beautiful and she had a familiar look to her. She looked at him and he noticed that her eyes were Vic's. He was starting to get confused. "Another relative, I don't know about there Vic?" Logan asked.

"Nope. She's not a relative. Well, not yet." Logan heard the grin in Vic's voice even though Vic had yet to raise his head and up and look at him. Victor was slicing a huge hunk out of a rather thick steak. Logan's mouth watered.

"That looks like a good steak, Vic."

"Is," he muttered between chews.

"Mind if I join you?" Logan said, and sat down next to Bell without waiting for an answer.

"Victor, aren't you going to introduce us?" Bell asked. Victor finally looked up from his steak.

"Oh, yeah," He said clearing his mouth. "Bell, this is James...James this is Bell." He made the introductions real short. Logan reached his arm out to Bell which she took and shook his hand.

"Hello," Bell said politely.

"Hey, there." Logan answered. "Known Vic long?" Logan asked, making conversation.

"No, not long at all. Actually we just met the night before last." Bell said, putting some pancake into her mouth. The waitress came over to the table.

"I see you've settled in. What can I get you?"

"I'll have what he had. Three minutes on one side, two and a half on the other. Eggs over easy and orange juice, coffee." She took his order and left. He waited for something to happen. Lately when he stopped for something he was always rescuing the ladies...He searched the diner...quiet, not a rowdy in the place, unless you were counting Vic, and at the moment he was behaving himself.

"So, how do you know Vic, Bell?" Logan asked.

"Well, James...Victor saved my life. I owe him everything." Bell said looking a Vic with something more then gratitude.

"Really, since when did you go into the knight in white shinny armor routine, Vic? Well, long fur coat in your case." Victor actually looked up at Logan for the first time. Logan could almost hear the growl build up. But it didn't, instead Victor elected to ignore him and went back devouring his steak.

"Good, you were listening. I thought you were going to ignore me all morning." Logan actually laughed. Victor said nothing and took a drink from his glass of milk. Bell was watching and taking all this in. It seemed really familiar to her. She and her older brother were a lot like this.

"Are you guys, brothers, or something?" Bell asked.

"Yeah, James here is my baby brother...a real live pest."

"I'm going by the name of Logan, if you don't mind." Logan said firmly.

"Again?! I really hate that name. Besides, what wrong with your name? Bell's last name is James, and she seems to like it."

"I never said there was anything wrong with it, I'm just Logan now."

"Did you have it changed legally?" Victor asked. He waited. He knew what the answer was. Logan said nothing. They sat in silence. "I didn't think so." Vic said somewhat satisfied.

"I prefer if you just called me Logan from now on." Uh on, there was that look in Vic's eye...Maybe he should have not said anything.

"Whatever you say, Jamie." Victor grinned sadistically.

"My name is Logan now." He was being stubborn he know Vic was going to get vicious now.

"Whatever you say, Jimmmy." He trilled. Vic was having a good time at his brother's expense. Logan sighed. He wasn't going to win this one.

"Fine. You can call me James." Bell was trying hard to keep from laughing. She didn't succeed. Her hearty laugh filled the diner and other customers grinned and wondered what the joke was that would get such a laugh. Both Logan and Victor were caught up in her contagious laugh and joined in. Whatever hard feelings that were between the brothers evaporated in Bell's mirth.

A man on the TV shouted: "Mutants are a danger to society and they must be registered and they should not...will not...be allowed to walk among us unidentified in a decent society!" Bell's laugh was cut short and she glared at the TV, the coffee mug she had been holding broke and hot coffee spilled all over the table. She ignored the burn of her coffee and jumped to her feet.

"Kelly, you damn hypocrite! What would you know about decent!! You murderer!!!" She stood glaring at the TV like it was a deadly enemy.

"Bell, are you alright?" Vic asked concerned. He heard a growl build up inside her and it threatened to escape.

"No! No I am not! How can he go on about dangerous mutants and decency whe he himself kills without remorse or conscious? The nerve of him!" The other customers were staring at her with concern. Was this the same woman that was laughing so carefree only moments earlier?

"Bell, what did Kelly do, that you would make you call him a murderer?" Victor asked. He had his suspicions. He saw James' face darken. He too had a bad experience with Kelly.

One of the customers threw the question at Bell as well. "What did the Senator do that you would accuse him of murder?" The man in the casual suit asked.

"Well, what do you call someone who gets into a heavily armored vehicle and races down a city street at 65 miles an hour intoxicated? And rams into another car killing the passengers. I call that murder, wouldn't you? How dare he sit in a Senate seat and make laws, when he doesn't even obey the ones already on the books?" Bell started to pant heavily and tears fell down her face. Her fists were clenched into tight balls and it looked as if she was ready to punch a hole thru the set.

"Were there any withnesses?" The man asked.

"You're looking at one. Yeah, he came out of nowhere and he didn't even see us. It was over before I could do or say anything. My folks were gone. I lay in the back seat trapped inside...broken, bleeding...when I saw him come over to the car and look into it. It was amazing...not a scratch or bruise on him, he staggered over to the police car that came to the scene. That stagger wasn't from any injury...he was legally drunk...past drunk. But since he was a Senator, and the driver of my car...my father was dead, he was able to cover up the fact that he was the one running the red light...not my father. I was in the hospital for nearly a whole year. My recovery was hard and I lost almost every motor and brain function I had in that accident. But I can remember that night as if it happened yesterday. It was the only thing keeping me going. To some day make him accountable for his crime. I tried to bring a wrongful death suit against him, but he had already thought of that." She took a deep breath, everyone was listening closely. Victor swallowed hard. Logan had shut his eyes in pain.

"Let me guess," Logan said harshly. "He made it look like it was your father's fault." Logan said. Bell turned to him. He nodded. "Yeah, me too, ran my wife off the road one night...she died a few days later. He was able to get away with it. Influential friends, relatives got him out of it and nothing was proven. Hell, it never made the papers. He managed to convince the authorities to let it be. Woman loses control over car on lonely road. Yeah, I know what he did to you. Let me guess, you had to pay your own hospital bills."

"He made sure that the insurance wouldn't honor the policy because he convinced them that my father was drinking. He couldn't, his condition wouldn't allow him to have alcohol. But since Kelly was a powerful Senator and my father was only a Professor at the University, his version was the only palatable one. Me...well, you know I had so much brain damage that my memory couldn't be trusted. Maybe on some things, but not on that...I remember it precisely. He wasn't satisfied to take my parents and my mental and physical faculties..he had to make sure I lost my job that was orginially beneath me. Af the time of the accident I was studying for a science degree. I can't remember which one, by my brother said I would have done so well. Now, I'm not that bright anymore. I spent the last three years trying to pay my hospital bills. When I couldn't; I decided to go for the wrongful death suit, hoping a lawyer would help me out. Oh, he helped me out alright! He turned on me and went to Kelly himself. The last I heard..he was being paid rather well. Well, as for me...I lost my job, had my bank account frozen and evicted out of my apartment. I was paid up for three months!" Her audience was looking flabbergasted at her.

She wasn't done, she started up again. "Well, after I found out that my lawyer turned me over; I did my own research into Kelly. Did you know I wasn't the only one in the last five years he'd done this to? He ran over some kids on bicycles. They were 9 and 11 year old brothers on the way home after a game. They were on a bike trail...a bike trail...way away from the road. It didn't save them; he had run them down too, drinking while driving. And he has the gall to say mutants are dangerous. I haven't met a mutant that dangerous, have you? Now there's a family that can't get justice for their boys. He got himself out of that too. No time served...no fines paid...and he still has his license to drive."

The silence in the diner was profound. Senator Kelly's rhetoric could again be heard. To the diner's customers he didn't sound all that good anymore. Without being asked, one of the waitresses turned the channel to a movie.

Bell was standing, heaving silent sobs of grief and anger. Vic stood up and embraced her.

"Come, Bell sit..." Victor turned to a waitress and asked her to bring a glass of milk for Bell. She nodded. She returned shortly with the milk and Victor urged Bell to drink it. She did and she calmed down some.

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have let go like that." Both Victor and Logan assured her that it was all right. She felt a bond with James now that they had a common experience. She went back eating, because she was hungry. Her body had just gone thru an extremely intense change and it needed nourishment. And pancakes were known comfort food anyway.

Logan's breakfast was served to him shortly after and the trio ate in relative peace, with only a few stolen glimpses by the other customers.

One in particular, the man in the casual suit had listened to the story with rapt attention. Well, well, well, the sainted Kelly was a vehicular murderer. Thought the man. Not one but at least by the woman's story and the man's conformation of one other, a total of five people have been his victims. He now had a starting point to begin his investigation. Three years ago, five years ago, a good enough place to start probing. Gotcha, Kelly! He smirked behind his coffee cup.


	7. CHAPTER 16: MEET THE WALKER CLAN

SUMMARY: Alternate Universe. Mystique doesn't work for Magneto nor did she turn blue when her mutation took effect; she still shape shifts though, Wolverine never lost his memory and Victor Creed was not raised by a sadistic father; for those who wish to correct me on certain points. Things are much alike, also very different. Sorry about the extended first chapter. Actually is number of chapters, but I should have separated them. Got carried away, what can I say except sorry.

CHAPTER 16: MEET THE WALKER CLAN

Bell continued to eat while Victor and Logan had finished their breakfast some time ago. Most of the customers that heard Bell's story had left and new hungry folks came in for breakfast or for coffee before going to work. One little boy who had come in a few minutes ago with his mother had watched Bell eat with fascination. He had never seen anyone eat so much in so little time before.

"She's been without food for a couple of days, eh?" Logan said with a little snicker. "More like a couple of weeks looks like." Bell looked up at Logan and gave an embarrassed smile. Victor grinned at that.

"Don't mind him babe, he's just jealous that you could eat him under the table." Victor said, chuckling.

"Okay," she said thru her food, and continued to fork pancakes and sausages into her mouth.

"So Vic, you still have that apartment? Cause you and I need to have a serious talk." Victor's smile dimmed a bit.

"You're not still sore about me hitting you with the tree, are you?"

The boy who had been watching Bell eat heard that and his mouth dropped open. "Sweetie, it's not nice to eavesdrop." His mother said to her son, "I'm sure he's just exaggerating." His mother said, not even looking up from her paper.

Bell looked up from her breakfast and swallowed her last mouthful. "Victor, you hit your brother with a tree?" She said surprised.

"Well, it was nothin' personal," Victor said.

"It was just business!" Victor and Logan chanted together. And they laughed. The little boy couldn't contain himself.

"You hit you brother with a tree?! Are you wrestlers? Cause I never seen you before." The boy said. "But I like your costume, it's neat."

"Yeah, kid. We're wrestlers, minor league circuit. Thanks, I do to." Victor said.

"Are those real furs on your coat? Cause they look like real animals." The boy asked. It looks like a question session was beginning. His mother sighed, and Victor and Logan and Bell could hear his mother mutter, 'Can't take Johnny anywhere.'

"Yep, killed them myself," the boy's eyes went wide. Then I tanned the hides and sewed them together and viola! A costume fit for a very badas----"Victor said smirking.

"Victor! Mind you language in front of the child!" Logan interrupted.

""Man, little brother, you ain't no fun." Victor whined. Bell coughed and sputtered. The boy's mother gave Victor a hard stare. If he were anyone else he might have intimated. But Victor just laughed at her. She rolled her eyes and hoped that the strange trio would just hurry up and leave.

"Wrestlers! Humph. No more of that for you Johnny." The mother said sternly.

"Aw mom!" Johnny whined pitifully. Bell couldn't stand that tone and she thought it best to change it. She gave the most outrageously loud burp that continued for some time. Johnny looked at her in awe. He laughed and laughed. "Good one!" He said happily. "That was amazing; I wish I could do that."

"Thank you Johnny, I've been working on that one all morning." Bell said giving Johnny a little bow. Smiles came from all direction and Logan even heard a laugh coming from the kitchen.

"Hey Sam, someone out there liked your cooking." Logan and Vic, and Bell heard one of the cooks in the kitchen say to the other. "Sounds like it," replied Sam.

"Well, I'm done, let's go." Bell said to Victor.

"Yeah, we better leave before mom over there has us arrested for delinquency of a minor." Logan chuckled and stood up and grabbed the helmet. Victor left a rather good tip and went to pay the breakfast bill. Logan let him pay for his breakfast, and Victor said nothing about it.

"Where are you parked little brother?" Victor asked as he and the others left the diner.

"Over there by your muscle car of course." Logan replied pointing at the bike.

"That puny looking thing?! Sheesh, your taste in motorcycles is terrible." Victor said.

"It's not my bike. You blew up my bike and my truck. I demand replacements!" Logan said.

"I did not blow up your bike and truck." Victor said

"Did too."

"Did not."

"Did too." Bell sighed. This could go on for a while.

"Just follow me on that clown bike and we'll talk about it at my apartment." Victor unlocked his car and opened the passenger door for Bell. "Here ya go Babe." Victor said smiling.

"Thanks." Bell got into the car and buckled up. Victor closed the passenger door and got into the car and they were off.

It was a fairly long drive and because it was early in the morning, the traffic wasn't so bad. Bell noticed that they were headed in the swankiest part of New York City. She had only seen pictures of the places she was now seeing out the window. Why were they heading here? Victor drove to a beautiful apartment building and pulled into the parking garage. The parking garaged was larger and nicer than her apartment that she got evicted from. He parked his car in a space that was reserved for him. Logan pulled aside and stopped the cycle and set it up. Bell and Victor got out of the car and walked over to Logan.

"Hey that's not so puny a bike. It looks real hot." Bell said looking closer at it.

"The guy who loaned it to me made some adjustments on it. It rides like a dream." Victor looked at it a scuffed. "Victor the bike you have makes even an old Indian motorcycle look like a miniature." Logan said smiling.

"Yeah, well I guess I'm bias. I built it myself, ya know."

"Yeah, I know, along with that monster you got parked over there." Logan chuckled. "Bell, this guy could build cars almost before there were called cars."

"Uh, what?" Bell asked confused.

"Hey, kid brother don't rat on us. I'm only eight years older then you and you're not that young anymore, either." Victor said chuckling at the look on Bell's face. "We're older than ya think we are. Come on let's got to the penthouse, I need to take a shower and change clothes." Bell nodded. The three walked over to a private elevator and Victor got out a set of keys and turned the key. The elevator dinged and a handsome business man got out of the elevator he was carrying a briefcase.

"Oh, hey Victor, just got back from a costume party? Nice looking outfit." He gave Victor a wink and looked at Bell. "I didn't know you had a twin sister."

"I don't, Harold. You know they say that everyone has a double, mine is a woman I just found out." Victor said.

"Well, lucky you. So who's this?" He said looking at Logan.

"Nobody special, just my little brother." Victor said.

"Victor, any brother of yours unless he's your size would be have to be your little brother." Harold said laughing. "Well, it's nice to meet you little brother and you too...look-alike...I have to go to work now, I'd love to stay and chat... can't... goodbye for now."

"See ya Harold." Victor said putting the key in and turning it to open the elevator door again. Security measures in this building were rather good, and the door closed after only a few seconds of allowing the person to exit unless a button on the inside was pushed. They got into the elevator and more keys and more buttons then the elevator started going up.

It was a short ride for the elevator was a fast one. It stopped and they got off and went to a large door across from the elevator. The noise coming from behind the door was loud, even to someone with normal hearing.

"Uh, Victor...did you by any chance rent out your apartment to someone as a daycare centre?" Logan asked. He knew the answer already but he enjoyed the joke.

"No, I did not." Victor took a deep sniff. "Damn, the entire tribe is here. When I gave an extra set of keys to Graydon and said he could use this place when he was in town I didn't expect him to bring all his terror mongers with him."

Victor opened the door, and the sensitive ears of the trio were assaulted by a riot of screams and laughter. There were youngster of both sexes and many different ages cluttering the living room of the penthouse. There was even a red shaggy dog playing tug of war with one of the children. Bell was astonished to see on boy juggling furniture and vases without using his hands. Victor surveyed the carnage; so far no one had seen the trio enter the apartment. Victor slammed the door, and some of the noise quieted. But only a few hear the door slam, but they didn't even bother to look to see which door was slammed. Victor decided to cheat, he gave out a tremendous roar that shook the windows and alerted the entire floor of the building that he was now home.

The effect was immediate. All playing, laughing and fighting halted in that moment. All the children's faces were now turned to the man that roared. There was blessed silence as it registered that the big man was in the room.

"Steven! Put my furniture down, gently. Some of those pieces cost more then your father makes in a year." He said firmly to the juggler. He now turned his attention onto the dog. "Sheila. Only service animals are allowed in this building...in other words, no dogs allowed." The dog that had been wagging its tall furiously in joy when it had seen him, but now it stopped dead and it plopped down in a sitting position looking totally dejected; whining pitifully. To Bell surprise it went from being a shaggy dog into a little girl, wearing bright blue pajamas with Finding Nemo characters on it. The dejection didn't last long for she attacked him.

Granddad! Granddad!" That was that was needed to start a stampede.

"Please tell me that your parents did not leave you here." Victor said with a little panic in his voice. Bell turned to look at him. Sabretooth afraid? But she looked at the kids that had begun to engulf him in joyous reunion, and she thought, yeah that would do it. All those kids for him to take care of alone would panic anyone. Even Sabretooth.

Bell looked over the kids, they were a handsome group. The boys were cute and the girls were precious. She smiled, they were a handsome family. But she still didn't think Victor look old enough to be a grandfather. Sheila had grabbed Victor by the hand and was practically using him as a swing.

A hefty, tall man, but not nearly as tall as Victor; with dark hair came striding into the room. He was dressed in a white shirt and gray slacks. He was carrying a coffee mug.

"Hey dad, I thought I heard you." He smiled and nodded to his father. He sat down at the table and put his coffee mug on it next to a laptop computer.

"Graydon, when I gave you the keys to my penthouse, I meant them only for you, and maybe your wife not the terror squad there." Victor said, while Logan chuckled away and began to reintroduce himself to his grand-nephews and nieces.

"Yeah, dad I know. But with the summit conference most of the hotels are booked solid and I can't seem to find a hotel that will take my family." Graydon said scanning the room. "It seems that the word is out about the Walker family and I can't get any of them to spring for rooms." Graydon sounded mildly surprised.

"I wonder why they would deny you rooms for your kids...I mean they are so well behaved and quiet." Victor said sarcastically.

"Sheila, your grandfather is not a Jungle Jim. Now go get dressed." Graydon said sternly. Sheila ignored him and kept up the swinging. Graydon sighed.

A fight between a couple of Graydon's sons broke out. "Hey give that back, it's mine."

"Come and get it, ya little dork!" the response to that demand. Suddenly Bell saw and smelt something which she didn't expect. They younger boy pointed a finger at his tormentor and a small ball of blue light shot out of it and hit him. "Owww!! That hurt, dad tell Oliver to stop shooting his blue bolts at me!"

"Oliver, stop zapping your brother, Alexander give him back whatever you took from him, or I'm getting your mom out here!" Graydon said firmly. Alexander gave back a book to Oliver, and Sheila immediately let go of her grandfather's arm. Whatever power that mom had was impressive, the room became quiet and none of the children were acting up. Since Graydon now had all his offspring's attention he took advantage of it.

"Everyone, I want you to go and get dressed, right now. I want you to be ready to leave by the time your mother comes out here, or you'll have to answer to her."

Bell had never seen a room cleared out so fast.


	8. CHAPTER 17 POWER PLAYS

CHAPTER 17: POWER PLAYS

Victor surveyed the damage after the youngsters departed. Toys, books, clothes and other objects not belonging to him were scattered everywhere. Only the adults were left in the living room. Victor heaved a huge sigh. It would take at least two hours of steady cleaning and straightening to set his home right again. Logan chuckled. If only his secret was really known to his various employers! Victor the mean...vicious...henchmen/grunt known as Sabretooth... was...a neat freak. Logan would just bet that this tornado scattered debris room was grating on his brother's nerves. Much to Logan surprise, Victor ignored the mess and walked over to his son.

"Not to be nosy, but why are you and your wrecking crew here?" Victor asked.

"Well, an old friend asked if I would speak at the summit about the mutant phenomenon."

"Does this old friend of yours know you are the son of mutants and the father of mutants?" Victor asked with a gleam in his eye.

"No. He doesn't. I just happened to be quite the authority on them, not just because they are numerous in my family, but because I do have a doctorate in genetics." Graydon said.

"Just which old friend invited you to speak at the summit?" Victor asked.

"George McKenna. You know, the President of the United States. I knew him in the service. We trained together. Well, when he asked I said yes. It's kinda like a getting a summons to do a command performance for the Queen and her family. So I'll be there speaking in front of all those leaders and such. I'm trying to put all my knowledge in a five page speech and to put into words that everyone can understand. Not a very easy task I can tell you that." Victor frowned. Graydon noticed.

"Ok, ok, I'll try to make it as understandable in layman terms as much as I can." Graydon said seeing his father's face.

"Good idea, Graydon." Victor sighed. His son and maybe his family will be at this summit that Magneto wanted to crash in the harshest way possible.

"You know dad, things for mutants really wouldn't be so bad if we could get Senator Kelly and his cronies just to shut the hell up." He was startled to hear a growl coming not from his father but from someone else. He hadn't really noticed anyone else except his father. Graydon looked at Bell. "Uh, do I have a sister I don't know about?" He stood up and walked over to Bell. "Did I say something to upset you?"

"Senator Kelly!" Bell said practically spitting. She growled some more.

"Jeez dad, she's just like you." Graydon said, sounding excited. "I wonder what kind of...." He trailed off lost in deep thought as he stared intently at her.

"No, she is not your sister and she's not going to become one of your experiments, either." Victor said sternly. "I'll explain later. Right now, all I want is a shower and change my clothes."

"That might be difficult at the moment. Sandra is giving Theodore a bath." Graydon said still staring at Bell in fascination.

"Theodore! Who is Theodore?" Asked Victor surprised.

"The youngest." Graydon said smiling.

"You have a new terror monger?" Victor said astonished. "What are you trying to do? Start your own race?"

"Talk to Sandra, she's insisting in all the children. Heck, I wanted to stop at Steven, but Sandra.....did not." Bell giggled, and Logan gave a hearty laugh.

"You know if you wanted to stop having kids, you should have stopped having....." Logan started.

"Daddy, daddy!" Came a gleeful shout from a very small child, he couldn't be more then three years old, if that. He went to his father and he bent down and picked him up. The child was quite active and it took no time at all for him to notice the new arrivals. "Who that, daddy?" Theodore asked.

"This big guy here is your grandfather." Graydon said to Theodore. Theodore cocked his head. "Pawpaw." A brilliant smile came over the toddler's face.

"Pawpaw!" The boy started chanting and demanded to be let down. Graydon put him down and Theodore ran to the big fellow. Without fanfare the boy started climbing up Victor's torso like he was a tree. Victor being curious to see if the child could make it all the way up to his shoulders didn't interfere with the tot's progress.

"Really Theodore, your grandfather is not a tree." A female voice said firmly. The voice belonged to a very beautiful woman in her forties. She had bright brown reddish hair and bright green eyes. She had just arrived into the room unnoticed. It was the formable mom. Theodore not being that old just yet ignored her or didn't hear her as he continued his quest to make it to the top of his 'tree'.

Having the agility of a monkey and the determination that all toddlers seem to have he made it to his desired destination. He gave his large grandfather a hug and kissed him on his cheek and called him "Pawpaw!" Victor's face got a soft look to it and he hugged the child back.

"Hey there Teddy Bear!" Victor said chuckling.

"His name is Theodore, Victor." Sandra said, making no mistake in her tone that he was not going to be called Teddy Bear. Victor was not impressed and ignored her. He grabbed the tot and held him over his head then he toss the kid up high up in the air. Victor heard the baby's mother gasp. Theodore on the other hand was laughing a squealing with delight. Victor easy caught him and started to tickle the kid with his thumbnails and Theodore giggled louder and faster then ever.

"Feisty little guy, isn't he?" Victor laughed. He liked the new addition. "Teddy Bear, ya got potential." Then what Sandra had feared.

"Teddy Bear! Teddy Bear!" Theodore said. Sandra heaved a great sigh. Now she was sure that he would not answer any other name now. Victor in a few seconds had undone several years of hard work. No one was allowed to give him a nick name and there it was; he now had one thanks to her father-in-law.

"Thanks." Sandra said with venom.

"You're welcome, dear." Victor smiled. He revenge for their invasion was now complete.

"You may put Theodore down now." Sandra ordered.

"Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear!" Theodore said. Victor put Theodore, now christen Teddy Bear, down and Sandra picked him up and stalked out of the room giving Victor a glare that would have melted adamantium. Victor always like Sandra, she was not easy intimidated and feared him not in the least.

"Dad, did you honestly have to do that?" He hooked at his father's broad grin. "Yeah, I guess you did. Lucky it wasn't worse." Graydon said meekly. He kept staring at Bell.

"Listen now that the master bedroom's bath is no long occupied, I'll take a shower and Bell, you can tell Graydon all about your experience with Senator Voided Personality." Victor said and left the room in a few strides.

"You had a bad experience with Kelly, too?" Graydon got a devious look in his eye, "Tell me all about it." He smiled engagingly.


	9. CHAPTER 18: REFLECTIONS

THE FAMILY

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE: Mystique doesn't work for Magneto. Logan still has his memory and Sabretooth wasn't raised by a sadistic father. Magneto couldn't get his hands on Senator Kelly, so he got another victim, he then got more then he expected or ever wanted or could handle.

Disclaimers: Nope, still don't own them except Bell, and Victor's grandkids, hehe.

* * *

CHAPTER 18: REFLECTIONS

* * *

Victor went into his bedroom. He noticed that it had been taken over by his son and his wife, but not brutally. He removed his fur and leather coat and hung it up in a coat bag. He zipped it up and put into his closet. He would not need that coat for sometime. It was an easy decision for him not to continue working for Erick, but a dangerous one. Erick did not like losing control over his minions and plans. But with Graydon and maybe his wife and some of his children being at the summit, the decision was the right one. He never did like the plan that Erick had, not at all. 

Victor grabbed a bathrobe out of his closet and went into the master bedroom's bath. It was not the disaster area he imagined. The floor was wet and there was a wet washcloth handing over the rim of the bath tub and a few bath toys in the corner, but that was a minor irritation and not a nuisance. He took off his leather clothes and breathed a sigh of relief. As much as he enjoyed the effect of wearing leather, it could get heavy and hot. Even on the coolest of days or nights. "Time to take these guys to the cleaner", he muttered. Pulling off his boots and putting them to one side he started the shower. He liked to alternate between very hot, and very cold. He needed the stimulation for the day he was going to put in. So far he'd been up nearly 23 hours straight. A long nap would be nice, but the summit was soon and he had work to do. He planned carefully on how he was going to go about defeating Magneto. With his metal skeleton it was not going to be easy. Magneto's threat of removing the adamantium was not an idle one. Not that he would miss it. He'd been without it for most of his life, but he would become vulnerable to any attack at that time. He was certain that Erick was planning to get other powerful mutants together and attack Xavier's school. It would take some of the most powerful ones to do that. Xavier had a lot of security and he's been training his students to defend themselves. He was anxious to see that.

He climbed into the bathtub and turned on the pulsating showerhead. Even with his healing factor he could feel sore and tired like the next guy. He stood under the flow of the water and let it roll down his back in a soothing stream. He lathered up his long blonde hair and washed it first. Thinking briefly about cutting his again he rinsed and soaped himself good then stood under the water just relaxing. The water started to get cold and he stood there until he was almost shaking with cold. That was a wake up call if he ever felt one. He'd had more tiring days then the last three days, but not as satisfying.

He stepped out of the tub and wrapped a towel around his waist and started blow-drying his hair. With alternating between using a towel to fluff his hair and a comb it didn't take too long to dry it. He pulled his hair into a ponytail and tied it with a black cord. He looked at his face that was almost blocked from his view by steam on the mirrors. He wiped the mirror with a dry hand towel. He now looked at his face and dried it. His sideburns that he grew in a mane kind of way to give him an appearance of a lion to a certain degree, had to go. He could grow them again in no time at all. He took his beard and mustache trimmer and gave himself a clean shave. The whiskers were gone; a small hairy pile on his bathroom counter. He brushed the stray hairs away and nodded in satisfaction at his clean face.

He stared at the reflection in the mirror. From deep in the past he could hear his father's voice. He had given many lectures on family devotion and loyalty.

* * *

"Victor, I'm quite proud of you racing to get help for you little brother. I know that there are no guarantees about James' treatment. Your Indian Shaman friend seems to know what to do. I know that your mother is worried and unsure about any treatment for James." 

"I'm sure Tipanic will know what kind of treatment James will need. We have only to wait while he examines him." Victor said, while watching an older man glare at them from afar. "Damn, Papa....do something about that mean old man, would you? He's plotting something I just know it!" Victor heard his father heave a great sigh. His father only nodded.

"He probably is."

"He's waiting to hear that James has died. He's hoping that James will die!" Victor growled angrily.

"Yes, and he is hoping that I would drop dead as well." His father glanced sadly in the elder gentleman's direction.

"Send him away Papa. He can't be trusted.... he's evil. The further away he is the better." Victor said hotly.

"There's an old saying son, 'keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer'." Victor's father quoted. "Look son, the only reason I'm keeping him close is so I can keep an eye on him. He'll be far more dangerous away where I can't watch him. He's plotting something to take over my fortune. He could never understand family; he won't understand any thing like that. All he ever cared about was money."

He saw his father swallow hard and he smelled sadness, and grief pouring off of him like sweat. Victor had his enhanced senses for four years now, and could decipher the difference of emotions now. Victor put an arm around his father's shoulders. Victor was a great deal taller then his father now.

"I've been making arrangements for many years now. You have had the best schooling that I could afford, in as many areas as possible. Hell, you've even been trained in warrior's way by that tribe that Tipanic is from. All, for the sole purpose of being able to defend yourself against that dangerous old man. You have the combination to the safe. Your mother's best jewels are in it. Money, information on my business holdings and things that **he** knows nothing about are in there as well. If or when something happens to both of us, I want you to take what's in the safe and flee with your little brother, if he survives. That old man can take my house, my fortune, my life...but I will not let him take my sons. Promise me Victor that if anything happens to me or your mother...you will protect your little brother from that.....man!" Victor's father said thru gritted teeth.

"I promise father, that I will not let him harm James. Give me the word and that horrid man will disappear forever, now." Victor said thru unshed tears.

"No! I will not let you do that. I need you free to take care of James. So far he hasn't done anything that I can prove. But if something happens to him now, I won't be able to protect you from the law. Please Victor...promise me that you will do nothing to him now, or later. I must have your word. Ever since you were a boy, you've always kept your promises to the best of your abilities and circumstances. Please." Victor heard his father practically begging him. With a closed throat he croaked an 'I promise' to please his father.

"Good. I knew I could count on you. Just don't turn your back on him, son. I never could, I've paid dearly over the years for doing just that." Just then someone came out of the large house. It was Tipanic. He looked and walked serious. But Victor could smell no sadness coming from him. His brother was still alive.

"Tip, my friend how is he?" Victor asked anxiously.

"Amazing my friend. Just amazing. I have never seen the like. He has many illnesses, never had I seen anything like this. Most children who get just one of his illnesses die shortly after they are born. You and yours have kept him alive 11 years?!" Tipanic shook his head. "His body is weak, but his spirit has strength that I've not seen in all my life. I have followed my father's and grandfather's footsteps in being a Shaman for almost all my life and all that were born with his afflictions died almost soon as they are born. You must love and care for him deeply. Only that would have kept him with you for 11years." Victor could hear the astonishment in his voice.

"Can you cure him?" Asked Victor's mother who came up behind them almost unnoticed. There was hope in her voice and a plea for her youngest.

"Mrs. Howlett, I can treat him....but I cannot cure him." Mrs. Howlett gave a deep sigh; it was just as she feared. Her beloved son could not be cured by any medical means. "Do not despair. I can treat him for his aliments. Most can be controlled with medicines that have been passed down for generations in my tribe. They do work, he will be able to breathe better and he will gain strength. It will take time and effort if you are willing to follow the treatments exactly. Follow my instructions and maybe when his growth starts in a year or two his body will correct itself. There are no guarantees of any kind, but since you have kept him alive for so long....it looks good that he will get stronger in body. His spirit is already stronger then I have ever seen. Come Victor I will show you how to make the medicine for him. I will give you enough for a week and I will be back with a larger supply and see if it needs adjusting." Tipanic and Victor went back into the house and up to his brother's room. Victor could already hear the difference in James's breathing. It was relaxed and he was not working as hard to bring air into his lungs. His parents had followed them and his mother looked at his little brother anxiously. Even she could tell James was better. Silent tears of joy feel down her face as she watched James breath, almost normally. James was always on the verge of death. They had to live with that every day.

"The elder's boast of you being the best healer of their nation was not an idle one." Victor whispered.

"Yes, I don't know how to repay you, Tipanic." Victor's father said.

"No payment is necessary. Victor has paid in advance." Tipanic smiled. Both of his parents looked at Victor with questioning glances. Victor could feel himself blush.

"Tip, you promised you wouldn't tell." Tipanic only smiled.

"I didn't tell, just mention it. You will have to explain it to them, yourself." Tipanic grinned. Victor's parents just stared at him.

"Well, you see there was this bear......" His mother raised her hands to her mouth and his father cocked his head.

* * *

Victor decided to give himself a complete shave and not just a trim. The memory of that day came to him unbidden. Or maybe it did; his son and family showing up and Bell's story of her family tragedy spurred some memories. He smelt him before he heard the knock on the door.

"Hey, Vic!! You done in there yet, the grandkids want to say goodbye before leaving to go to terrorize the Children's Museum." Logan called.

"Yeah, just about James, tell them to hang about awhile. Just need to get dressed, that's all." Victor called back.

"Sure thing, big brother! Say, I made some of that gourmet coffee that you like. So put a fire under yourself okay?"

"Be right out." Victor called and began drying off quickly. He heard James leave.


	10. CHAPTER19: PLANS A'HATCHIN'

CHAPTER 19: PLANS A'HATCHIN'!

Bell sat at the table with Graydon sipping the gourmet coffee that Logan had brewed. It was wonderful and the company wasn't all that bad either. Graydon had listened to her story with such attentiveness that it almost scared her. But he took in every word that she said. He questioned her now and again about certain information and she answered as accurately as she could.

Logan had heard the story before leaned against the bay window's frame sipping his coffee from a blue mug that had Grumpy on it that said "BAD MOOD DUDE. Always Grumpy: Short temper since 1937". It made Bell chuckle. As since she didn't know how old they really were or what their past was like, she probably guessed that they could have been at the original première of Disney's Snow White for all she knew. She saw him looking out the window at the view while Victor's grandkids were getting ready to go to the museum. They were really getting into it after Bell's excited tale of practically growing up at that museum because her father was on the board there. The younger ones were getting a little restless anyway and were starting to pick fights. That lasted about 15 seconds, mom gave a AHEM!. It took that and only that to set things right. Bell was impressed down to her new toes. The kids obviously loved their dad, but he was not the ruler of the roost by a long shot.

"Now, Bell, are you sure that's all you remembered about that night?" Graydon asked. Bell nodded. "Very good...I'll have someone look into it. And I'll see how he was able to freeze your assets. That is definitely abuse of governmental powers if I ever saw them. Senators are not supposed to use their offices for personal uses like that. He could very well be in lots of trouble." Graydon grinned and chuckled. "I'll see if I can get you back into your apartment as well." She smiled in gratitude.

Both Bell and Logan turned to look at the hallway; Graydon figured that their heightened senses picked up his father. He guessed correctly for his father entered the living room dressed to the nines. He was wearing dark grey dress slacks a bright white silk shirt and he had black dress boots on and he had a very expensive jacket slung over his shoulders. His hair was tired behind his back in a ponytail and his sideburns were history; and he was wearing his sunglass. Bell's mouth dropped open; she was beyond surprised, she was flabbergasted.

"HOLY SMOKES!!!" Bell exclaimed, jumping to her feet. "Okay, who are you and what did you do with Sabretooth?" Bell asked in mock anger. "You look like one of those big tall men models. Wow! You are stunning!"

"Sabretooth, who or what is a Sabretooth?" asked Steven, looking at this grandfather. "And she's right, you are rather stunning." Steven said grinning mischievously, and then snickered. The room simply burst into laughter, even Victor had to suppress a grin. Sandra's anger at her father-in-law evaporated and she laughed at him while helping one of the younger children dress.

"Sabretooth, I have you to know is my working name." Victor said to Steven.

"Working? I thought you were richer then God." Steven countered. "And you didn't have to work."

"No, only Bill Gates is richer then God." Victor said smiling. "And I get bored doing what rich people are supposed to do. We both do," Victor said nodding at Logan.

"It's the Thomas Crown Syndrome." Stated Logan, giving Steven a raised eyebrow. Steven looked perplexed.

"You know the movie with Pierce Brosnan about a rich guy that stole stuff he could probably buy anyway." One of his sisters said.

"Huh, what are you talking about, Jazz?" Steven asked.

"That's Jasmine, Steven." Corrected mom, sternly. Steven rolled his eyes. What problem his mother had with nicknames, he had no idea where she got it from or why it bothered her so much.

"Yeah, Stevie, don't call me Jazz....well, actually I kind of like that...makes me sound well, cool." Jazz smiled at her brother.

"Great, just great! See what you've started Victor!" Sandra said angrily.

"What is your problem, Sandy?" Victor said, just poking her a bit with a verbal stick. Sandra stood up and it looked like she was going to launch herself at Victor.

"Uh, Sandra honey, the van is down stairs waiting to take you and the kids to the museum." Graydon said quickly.

"Well, it will have to wait. The kids are not ready yet." Sandra said going back to the group of kids and attending to them.

"I'll help you Sandra. Just tell me what I can do." Bell said volunteering to assist.

"Thanks, Belinda. That would be very nice of you." She said gratefully and gave Victor another harsh stare. He was certain that his metal skeleton just might melt for real.

"Dad," said Graydon quietly. "Do you really have to torment my wife like that? Please don't. Pleeeease!" He begged.

"Sandra, I do apologize for giving you a hard time. It's just my nature." Victor said sincerely.

"Harrumph!" Answered Sandra, she was still in a snit. But she seemed pacified a bit from the apology.

"Thanks dad." Graydon whispered. Victor nodded. Logan merely shook his head. None of his children had the forceful mate in Sandra that Graydon had. Most of his kids were Sandra. Especially Andrea...

"Could you help me do my hair, Bell?" Sheila asked.

"Of course, Sheila sweetie; and how would you like me to do it?" Bell said taking the brush and comb from Sheila. Sheila grabbed her hair with both her hands and held them in two pigtails.

"I like 'em nice and tight and real far up. So I can..." Sheila said in a high pitch squeak.

"Swing them back and forth, right." Bell finished for her.

"How did you know?" Sheila asked surprised.

"'Cause that's the way I liked to wear them when I was a girl your age." Bell smiled. Bell sat down on the couch and pulled Sheila to her. "Now hold real still and we'll see what we can do. You have such nice hair; it's just like your mother's. You look like her too."

"Yeah, everybody says that." Sheila said holding still while Bell brushed her hair gently. Bell switched from a brush to a comb as she made a part in the back of Sheila's head. It wasn't too hard to get right; Sheila was still and didn't fidget at all. She even handed Bell the ringlets to tie her pigtails with. Finishing she turned Sheila around to look at her handiwork, Shelia gaped at her.

"What's wrong, Sheila? Do I have a bee on me?" Bell asked.

"Your eyes." Sheila said.

"What about 'em?" Bell replied.

"They're glowing red." Sheila said. "Why are they doing that?"

"They're glowing red? I haven't a clue why." Bell said confused. Victor turned to look. 'So, that's how to tell if her power is working.' He smirked, it was a good sign.

"Are you a mutant too?" Asked Sheila, cautiously.

"Yep, it would appear so."

"All right children," Said Sandra checking in turns to see if all the children were ready to go. She made sure some of them had their backpacks. She surmised that most of the kids had their snacks in them. She gathered up her youngest in her arms and herded the mob out of the door.

Sheila turned to say goodbye to her father. "Hey granddad, will you be here when we get back from the museum?" Sheila asked. The other children stopped to hear Victor's answer.

"Sorry kids, I have some important business to attend. But I will probably see you before you go back home, alright." Victor said smiling.

"Yes, we are so blessed that you will be seeing us again." Sandra said in a dry monotone.

"I'm sure that you will miss me the most, Sandra." Victor said soothingly.

"Without a doubt." She retorted in that same dull flat tone. "Graydon, have a safe trip and don't forget to call after you get there." Sandra said. It sounded more like an order to Victor and he frowned.

"That won't be a problem, dear. Have a nice day; don't let the kids wear you out." Graydon said going over and giving his wife a kiss goodbye.

There was a sudden hush as all the children left the penthouse. Three men and one woman were left in the lush penthouse by themselves. It was a welcomed relief to all with powerful senses.

"Dad, must you irritate my wife every chance you get?" Graydon asked.

"I must, I must." Victor said laughing. Graydon rolled his eyes. "I like her."

"Well, God help those who you don't like then." Graydon said. "I'm going to finish dressing and make a few calls. Then I'll be going to D.C. to speak with the President."

"Hey, while you're there if you get a chance to see your you send her my love and tell her I'll call her this evening." Logan said to Graydon.

"Sure Unk. My pleasure... it will not be a problem. She'll probably be busy though." Graydon said. He left the room and went to finish getting into his suit.

"So James, you wanted to talk to me?" Victor inquired.

"Yeah, I did. But we'll wait until Graydon leaves." Logan said.

"Not a problem for me. Do I smell coffee?" Victor asked.

"Are you a big, blonde hulking creature?" Logan teased.

"Why yes I am, runt." Victor said.

"Then there's coffee." Logan said. Bell snickered. It had been a long time since she had felt the comradely of family and she was enjoying it.

Victor got his coffee and settled down in his custom made Lazy-boy chair. Logan decided it would be best if they shared some quiet time before the storm. And it will be a storm if he knew his brother, and he did.

END PART II

PART III

Graydon had made his phone calls and was quite pleased with the results. He also gave the man on the other end of the phone the new information he had on Senator Kelly. If all goes well, he could kiss the Senator and his mutant hating cronies 'goodbye' not that he would.

"Well, dad, Unk, Bell; I am off to go to Washington D.C. to visit the President." Graydon announced getting his briefcase and pulling on a light coat.

"You most certainly are, if you're going to D.C. willingly." Bell quipped. Victor, and Logan and Graydon laughed at her witticism.

"Really Bell, you have the most interesting sense of humor." Graydon said smiling. "Pretty kinky, if you asked me."

"Did you hear that Victor? Your son thinks I'm kinky. Is that an insult or a compliment; because I'm not sure?" Bell said.

"Take it as a compliment. I would." Victor said, sipping his coffee. A phone ring came from inside Graydon's suit jacket.

"All right, I'll be there in just a few minutes." He put the phone back into his pocket. "Well, that was my driver and he says the plane's here to take me to D. C. If I don't see you later today, you can catch me on the cspan when I make my speech."

"Go sic 'em son." Victor urged enthusiastically. "Good luck."

"Thanks dad...See ya soon, right?" He asked.

"You bet. If not one way, the other then." Vic said smiling.

"Good luck!" Both Logan and Bell wished as Graydon went out the door.

"Vic, did you see that look that Graydon had in his eye." Logan asked Victor after Graydon closed the door.

"Couldn't miss it." Victor said. "I wonder what he's up too, besides the speech." Victor mused. "It looks like he has someone in his sights. That bodes no good for said victim." Victor said to his brother.

"Hope its Kelly." Bell said to no one in particular.

"One can only hope," Said Logan with feeling.


	11. CHAPTER 20: PROMISES, PROMISES

CHAPTER 20: PROMISES, PROMISES

The trio shared some quiet time while Logan tried to get his thoughts together and rehearse what he was going to say to Vic in his head. He was hoping that the penthouse and the now occupants would not suffer his wrath when he broke the news to him. Sometimes Vic could take the bad news with a stoic face and a calm manner, and sometimes he had seen hurricanes and tornadoes leave less damage in the wake of his brother's fury. So Logan being a betting man bet half he would freak and the other he would take it quite well.

"Victor, I really need to tell you a story, but it must be in private." Logan looked at Bell.

"Oh, I'll just wait in another room....oh; I don't think that'll work." Bell said.

"Not a problem, Babe." Victor said. Victor, James called him Victor. It must be serious. He rarely ever called him Victor. "Come with me, and I'll arrange something that will help." Victor said getting up and beckoning Bell to follow him.

"Oh, okay." Bell stood up and followed Victor. He led her past the master bedroom and down the hall to a door. He took keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door. He led her inside and she gasped. It was a huge library. There wasn't a space on the walls that were not covered in bookcases filled with books, save one. It had a large entertainment centre on it. TV, stereo and speakers were arranged in the most advantageous way possible. Beside the stereo was a series of racks filled with CD's. The collection was huge, but that wasn't what made her take in a breath of surprise. The various artists and the extensiveness of music, was shocking. Everything from opera to the latest in music was in his collection.

"Here, I'll set up the music for you." Victor said moving towards the stereo. Bell on the other hand went over to the bookshelves and thumbed her fingers along the books. Most of them looked like first editions. She took one off the shelf and looked at the title. It was a Rudyard Kipling. She opened the cover and looked inside. There was a hand written inscription. The inscription read: To Victor my good friend, good hunting, good reading, and good life. Your friend, Rudyard. It was signed and dated.

"You either collect books that just happened to have your name in them, or...."

"I met him when I was in England. We became very good friends. He sent me that book for my birthday. The great thing about him was he talked a great deal like he wrote." Victor smiled at the memory. It was a sad smile though. "I was so angry at myself for letting our friendship get lost. You see.... I let time get away from me. By the time I found out that he was sick, broke and dying...it was already too late. I was away on some crusade or other. Since then though, if I see a potential artist, writer, musician...I do my best not to let them get away like I did with Rudd." The shared a long moment of silence together.

"Um just how old are you?" Bell asked quietly. She wasn't sure she wanted the answer, but she couldn't stop herself. He smiled at her, smelling her confusion.

"I was born a year just after the American Civil war."

"That would make you....." She trailed off.

"Yeah, it would." He smiled kind of sadly. "It's my healing factor you see. I don't really age at all. I stopped aging about around the time I turned thirty-seven or so. It's kind of hard to see time pass you by and your friends and family die of old age when you are still the same. Well, it's not so bad. James is still around and he has the healing factor too. His is even more prevalent then mine. He stopped aging when he reached thirty-two or so. I believe that now you are one of us, too." Bell swallowed.

"We're immortal?" Bell asked voice catching.

"No, just damn near as never mind: As one of my old acquaintances would say."

Bell just stared at him for a long moment. Now she was like him, she would outlive most of her family, friends...see things come and go. It kind of scared her, but excited her too. Not too long ago she hadn't any life to look forward to, now it bloomed before her.

She had a question she was dying to ask him. He waited while she got up the nerve to ask him. He almost knew what she going to ask. It was the logical procession to their conversation. Long life did have its advantages.

"Why did you choose me?" Bell asked. Yes, that's the one he was waiting for. He smiled at her. He remembered the moment he had seen her at the park. It was just an impetuous choice. He barely thought of it. He just grabbed her. Afterwards he had thought about.

"It was your scent, Babe. It grabbed me and told me that you were the one I wanted, needed." Victor said.

"What was it that grabbed you?" Bell asked curious.

"Death, Babe, you reeked of it." Victor said simply. Bell's mouth dropped open. "Yes, when I caught your scent it smelled of death. I knew that if I hadn't grabbed you, you've died anyway. It's the same scent that those who knew that they are dying, whither in battle, or illness or when those who contemplate suicide seriously. Your decision had been made....even though you probably hadn't even known it." Bell's mouth dropped further. Victor chuckled at her. "Everybody has a certain scent they give off during strong emotions, decisions...hell all the time. Surely you've noticed it. Sometimes it can be ignored by us....well; everyone can smell odors that permeate the air. But most choose to ignore, or they haven't learned to recognize smells. Scientists have said for years that scent was the best and most valuable senses that we have. It connects to memory strongly. But many don't realize that scent have driven the human race as much as it has with animals." Victor went on to explain. Bell swallowed. Her father had said much the same thing.

"So what kind of music do you want to listen too? I'll set up the headphones for you too." Victor said turning away.

"Mind if I choose by myself?" Bell asked.

"Not in the least." He plugged the headphones into the stereo and handed them to her. Their hands touched. Bell froze, and she stared at him intently. They were standing toe to toe their breathing matching each other. Bell could hear his heartbeat keep time with hers. It was like they were one. They leaned into each other and their faces were only an inch or two from one another. Bell could make out an enticing a scent coming from Victor it excited her. She reached up with her other hand and stroked his face. Their eyes locked onto each other like they wouldn't let go. Victor edge closer to her and he was only moments from giving her a kiss, when the door burst open.

Logan looked as if he'd been physically attacked as he jerked back.

"Oh, god, I'm sorry....oops!" He backed out and closed the door behind him. He was so embarrassed. He should have smelt them in **that** mood from the parking garage. He must have been oh so distracted. He ran his fingers thru his hair and expelled a deep breath. He didn't know what to say to Vic when he saw him again.

"Don't worry about it, baby brother. We really don't have the time for that anyway." Said Victor, coming into the living room a few moments later. "Besides, I still have to take care of a little problem."

"Your wife."

"My wife. Not that it's been a problem for the last quarter century or so. It's been awhile since we've actually seen eye to eye on things."

"Then you are certain of Bell then?" Logan asked.

"Made that decision earlier, it's for certain. I just only have to ask her...doesn't look like a problem."

"I need to know, how did you find her, and why is she so like you?" Logan asked.

"I found her in the park and why she's like me...well, that's a story." Victor went and got his mug to get fresh hot coffee. Logan took the hint, he waited to Victor to get his coffee and he refilled his mug as well.

They took chairs at the diner table. Victor began to explain the whole story of how he working for Erick was told to get a subject of experimentation.

"Erick wanted me to get someone to use his machine on. I was reluctant. I am a grunt but I usually draw the line at kidnapping, but I have a metal skeleton and Erick has that way with metal....so." Logan nodded.

"So working for him isn't as voluntarily as thought." Logan said, knowing for sure that his brother wouldn't just work for him for money. His suspicions were confirmed with a nod.

"Not that I would miss the metal, but to have it extracted without medical attention available would leave me dead, or wishing I was." A dark look came over Victor's face. He wasn't afraid of death or pain, he'd faced them often, but to be helpless would be worse then death. "I have chosen not to work for him anymore. I'll accept what he does to me. I don't believe or agree with what he's doing. In fact I have a plan on stopping him." Victor said with an evil grin. Logan smiled along. Vic's plans were formidable, he may act the dumb grunt sometimes, but a cunning and brilliantly trained brain was running the large deadly body. A deadly force to be reckoned with.... caution was the best way in dealing with his big brother.

"What is that plan, I can see the wheels turning. It must be good if you're going to take on Magneto." Logan said leaning forward.

"Did you happen to notice that Bell's eyes glowed red when she was doing Sheila's hair?" Victor asked with a purr.

"Actually I noticed that her eyes glowed red every time she even went near one of your grandkids. I wasn't sure why, but since it didn't hurt them any I didn't worry. What?"

"Did you say, near? Not touching them. Hmmm. I've have thought she would have to touch them. This is interesting." Victor said getting into his thinking mode.

"What are you talking about?" Logan asked getting confused.

"She seems to be, although I can't confirm it yet....a power mimic." Victor said grinning broadly. Logan cocked his head while he rolled the statement around in his head. "I suspected as much when she became me...well, almost. You see the machine that Erick used on her affected her DNA to a point were her body starting rejecting it. Her body was getting eaten up by itself. I took her to the woods to die, but I held her hand and let her rest on me while she died. But she didn't....obviously. Her body being torn apart by itself, and was killing her. But as you and I both know, self preservation is one of the key ingredients to our make-up. So her body did the next best thing it could to save itself." Victor said grinning.

"It became you." Logan said laughing.

"Yes, that's right. If I'm right then she now has the ability to morph, levitate, and shoot blue bolts and a number of other things as well. Her body stayed the way it is because it chose the new body over the old one. She did it unconsciously."

"Erick's machine works for those who'll have her mutation, right? But it's fatal to those who don't."

"He even wants to try it again. He probably realizes by now, that I won't bring him another victim. He said he's going to adjust the machine....but I doubt very much if it will be enough. He doesn't realize that the stronger the power used on the machine the more destructive it is. He'll kill all that get in its way." Victor said. Erick didn't believe that Sabretooth knew anything about science or technology. Victor had been around since it began, so he had kept up with it. "Hell, I could very well fix it so that it'll work, but there's enough mutants being born without any mechanical help."

"You haven't told him that, have you?" Logan snorted.

"Like, Erick would listen to me, little brother. I guess my rep preceded me. Big, dumb, grunt." They sat in silence for sometime.

"I saw Raven yesterday." Logan said.

"Really, how does she look?" Victor asked, knowing full well what the answer would be.

"Same as always, beautiful." Logan said taking in a deep breath.

"I hear a story coming. It concerns her, doesn't it?" Victor said taking a sip of his quickly cooling coffee.

"Yep...And you too." Logan said building himself up for what will be a taxing time.

Bell had been listening to Bette Midler's latest CD when she heard the most heartbreaking roar that shook the walls. She tore off the headphones and tossed them aside and charged out the door. She entered the living room to have her sensitive ears being assaulted by Victor's anguished roar. Such anger, sadness in that long drawn out roar that sounded like several big cats of the zoo, crying their grief at lost freedom; came from the large man. He was standing his full length and his back was arched and his head thrown back. The penthouse windows were rattling, her ears rang at the loudness. Logan was clutching his ears and he had tears coursing down his face in sympathy with his brother's pain. Bell's eyes were being pricked with tears as well.

Victor dropped to knees and roar became a howl and evolved into sobs. Bell understood that he had lost something precious, only which could have brought a man like Victor to his knees.

Logan dropped down beside him and embraced his brother. He spoke quietly to him; trying to sooth him. Bell could hear the words, but she couldn't understand them. It was in another language. It had a sing-song quality to it that could have put a crying baby to sleep. It only calms Victor. Bell didn't know whither to leave or go. She found herself moving towards the brothers without thinking.


	12. CHAPTER 21: DANCIN' ON THE CEILIN'

Summary: ALTERNATE UNIVERSE: Magneto couldn't get his hands on Senator Kelly so he opted for another subject, and got more then he bargained for, or even wanted.

Disclaimer: Don't own the X-Men, just Bell and the grandkids. Just for fun I decided to add a few characters that weren't in the first two movies, but everyone wanted them to be.

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CHAPTER 21: DANCIN' ON THE CEILIN'

* * *

Bell crouched down and sat on the floor next to Victor and just held him with Logan. His sobs quieted down and stopped altogether. He became real quiet. Logan was worried, a quiet Victor means a dangerous Victor sometimes. Victor rubbed his face on Bell's shoulder and sniffed her hair. After a few minutes he was ready to stand.

He walked over to the windows and looked out. He stared at the city skyline for a few minutes more. Nothing was said, no words were spoken or needed. Bell took a ragged breath, it was only this morning that she had purged herself of some grief as well, but it felt like two days ago.

Victor turned to Logan. "He knew....before?"

"Yes, he knew before." Logan said quietly. He could hear a growl coming from Victor. "He knew everything, before he even hired you." Logan said. He knew he was fueling the fire, but keeping anything from him now, only meant for a far more dangerous Victor later. He did grunt jobs for excitement, causes, fun...but when they messed and mixed with family....that he didn't do.

"Bell." Said Victor very quietly. "I need you do to something for me."

"Anything at all Victor. Just name it." Bell said with conviction.

"I want you to turn yourself into an animal." Victor said smiling.

"You want me to do what?!"

"Turn into an animal, your choice. Go on, you can now ya know." Victor said urging her.

"You mean like Shelia?" Bell asked, surprised at Victor's request.

"Just like Shelia. Go ahead. All you have to do is concentrate, relax and do it." Victor said as if he was teaching a class.

"Ooookay." Bell said with uncertainty. "So all I have to do is concentrate?" She started saying 'concentrate' like a mantra. There was a white glow coming from her, she stretched up and dropped to her hands, by the time she reached the floor though, she was growing larger, when the bright white light died down, in place of Bell on all fours on the floor was the grandmother of all felines. It was the size of a medium sized horse. The two fangs hanging out of its mouth were at least 12 inches long, and looked sharp. Its eyes were a bright chilling yellow. Bell had become the female version of Victor's working name......A full grown and more real live Sabretooth tiger, or lion, depending on which class you liked best.

"Uh, Bell? How much time did you say you spent at that museum, anyway?" Asked Logan, practically choking with laughter. Logan looked at his brother; he had a glint in eyes that was somewhat frightening. He had a very evil smile on his face. It was comical the way the large lioness head cocked to one side and a rumbling purr that would have been a "huh?", if she could voice it. Victor threw back his head and let out a laugh.

"YES!! Hot damn! This promises to be fun! We're going to go vistin' Bell." He turned to Logan who shared a smile with him.

"YES! And after that, Bell....you're going to school." He turned to Victor and grinned. Victor nodded. Logan could almost feel sorry for Erick....almost. Bell was still confused. "You're a very handsome Sabretooth Tiger, dear." Logan said.

"Better get back into your own skin, I don't think I'd be able to fit you in my car now." Victor joked. "And besides, Jake's allergic to cats." Victor actually snickered. He went back into his library and turned off the stereo and locked the door. He put on his expensive jacket and grabbed his thick wallet. He put on his sunglasses.

"Let's move out. Bell, you can turn back into yourself now." Bell looked at Victor. "What's the matter cat got your body?" Bell glowed white and transformed back into herself.

Bell looked at her hands and flexed her fingers. She looked at Victor. "How did you know I'd be able to do that?"

"You're what we call a power mimic. They are kind of rare, and in your case.... powerful. Sheila would have been able become a cat, but not a large cat. She's limited by her age and strength...you are not." Victor explained.

"Oh. Okay. What are we doing exactly?" Bell asked.

"We are going to make you more powerful, powerful enough to take on Erick." Bell smiled at that.

"We're gonna stop him from doing to others, what he did to me?" Bell was delighted.

"Yes. Ready little brother?" Victor asked.

"Lead the way, big brother." Logan said. "I really need to put the bike I borrowed somewhere safe."

"I'll just put it in the back of my car. Then we can head back to the school after our stop at Jake's. We can't waste any time. Erick certainly won't." Victor said.

"Fine, well, let's go then." Logan said putting his jacket back on and heading out the door. "Hey, aren't you going to clean up the penthouse first?"

"No, Sandra's almost as bad as I am. She'll get the kids to pick up after themselves."

It was hard for Bell to believe that it had been only a few hours ago that they had arrived at the penthouse. They left the elevator and went back to the monster car. Victor opened the trunk of his car and slid out a rack of some kind. He picked up Scott's motorcycle like it was a child's bike and placed it side down on the rack and clamped into place and pushed the rack back. It was like the bike disappeared. The backseat was still the backseat and no motorcycle was there. Bell could just now appreciate the brute strength that Victor had; Logan took it as a matter of fact. But he raised an eyebrow at the ingenious way Vic had built his car. The ability to carry a motorcycle hidden was an original idea, typical of his brother.

"Not too shabby." Logan said approvingly.

"Thanks, good thing I made allowances with the clamps. If I hadn't this smaller bike would cause more trouble then its worth." Victor said unlocking the car door. "Bell gets to sit in the front seat, don't ya Bell?" He smiled at her; they shared a little joke between them... Logan thought. The three of them got into the car.

"Buckle up everybody." Bell said. Logan having already been thrown from a truck by way of the windshield was not arguing this time.

"Learned you lesson did ya, bro?" Victor chuckled.

"Oh, shut up!" Logan said irritably. Victor had gotten his humor back for he gave a hearty laugh. Bell was relieved to hear it and even Logan fought to keep a straight face.

They left the parking garage and Victor must have taken every short cut he knew to get to where he was going. Bell had lived in this city for a long time and Victor took her into parts that she didn't even know existed.

They pulled into a street that had a number of bars and clubs on it and Victor pulled in front of the one called Jake's Bar & Grill. It didn't look like much, but it looked like it was kept up better then most that Bell had ever seen. They got out of the car and Victor put on his anti-theft alarm. Custom made, of his own design of course. He had a few surprises for those who would try to steal his baby.

"Follow me guys." Victor said and led them around the back of the bar. He knocked on the door. A little flap in the door opened.

"Yeah?" Came a voice from inside, and eyes stared out at them from the opening.

"We came to see Jake," Victor said. "It's personal, not business, Barry...Is Brad here?"

"Vic, is that you....silly me of course it is, who else is that big." Barry said opening the door. "If I didn't let you in Brad would never forgive me. He's not here right now, but he's supposed to be back shortly. Come on in, who's your friends? Not that they aren't welcomed...."

"Barry, this is my little brother James...Logan...oh hell, whatever he wants to be called. The lady is Bell." Victor said introducing them quickly. "Who else is here, I know it's early..."

"Got a bunch that never goes home it seems. Just hanging around playing cards, talking drinking, and being nuiances to just about everyone." Barry griped.

"If you want I can toss them out on their....." Victor started.

"Hey, Vic! How are you, haven't seen you in a rat's age!" This came from a rather short, but beautiful older blonde woman who trotted over to them. She gave Vic a hug and looked at him somewhat surprised. "Nice outfit. Almost didn't recognize you."

"Jake, it's so good to see you. Sorry I haven't been by...so how's tricks." Victor said to his friend.

"Jake?" Bell asked.

"That's what my friends call me, and you are?"

"Belinda, but my friends call me Bell." She replied.

"Nice to meet you Bell, welcome. So who's this guy?" Jake asked.

"That's no guy, that's my baby brother." Victor chuckled.

"He doesn't look like a baby." Jake said eyeing him closely.

"I got bigger." Logan said cockily.

"Not as big as Vic." Jake said.

"Not for the lack of trying." Logan shrugged his shoulders. "He takes after our uncle Harold. Mother's older brother."

"Actually Jake, I came to see Brad. Do you mind if we wait for him. Barry said he'll be back soon."

"Of course not, but it's too early for serving alcohol, but for you boys, it's not ever too early for booze." She smiled. "Coffee?"

"No, I think we've had enough coffee. Just sodas I guess." Victor said.

"Sure, why don't you go annoy the other early birds? Maybe you can get them to leave." Jake said with a little rancor. "And see if you can get that one, to stop cheating in my bar!" She shouted at a table that had a number of young men around it. The man in question turned to look in her direction at the new arrivals.

"Moi???!!" The young man said throwing up his hands and sounding insulted. Bell laughed.

"If you're not cheating, why did you assume that she meant you?!" Bell asked the young man.

"Remy never cheats, he just very good at the cards." He said in a thick accent that Bell recognized as belonging to deep parts of Louisiana. He took the deck of cards that he had in hands and demonstrated how good he was.

"Does he always speak in third person? He sounds like Gollum...." Bell snickered. The men that were sharing the table with Remy snickered and laughed at him.

"Laugh at Remy? Remy thinks that you be in a lot of trouble with him, if not stop their laughing." This only got the young men at the table more tickled. Remy held up one card and Jake simply pounced on that.

"Don't you **even**....damaged any of this bar and you're paying double the price of the breakage...understand, Cajun?" Jake said angrily.

"Remy can't afford to pay double...he understands." Remy put the card back in the deck and shuffled the cards.

"Am I missing something?" Asked Bell, turning to Victor in confusion.

"Thankfully, yes." Victor said with some relief.

"Victor!!! Oh my god! I was hoping it was today!" A tall man about 6'3" came out of nowhere. He was dressed in such a flamboyant way that he couldn't be missed even on a Pasadena Rose Bowl Parade flower float. "Come here and give me one of your bear hugs, you big beautiful man you!" His arms were outstretched. Bell had never seen the like up close before. Victor didn't hesitate and walked over to the man and gave him what he wanted.

"Brad! It is good to see you. I heard you were in town so I came as soon as I could," Victor said enthusiastically.

"Liar! But I forgive you. It's about time...oh, my is that? It is....she is finally here. Oh my dear....I have been waiting for you for so long." Brad said coming over to Bell.

"You have? Really? But I only heard of you this morning." Bell said, somewhat startled and confused. Brad simply smiled at her and gave her a big hug. Bell gasped.

"It's alright, dear...just take a deep breath and relax. That how you control your power, you know. Now...you have mine. There you see, I have been waiting for you." He smiled at her and broke off the hug and stood back and looked at her.

"Oh, I envy you soooo much. Now that you see, don't you let anyone take him away from you..." He giggled. "Even me." He sighed and stared at Victor with desire. Then he looked over at Logan. "Well, maybe I can be derailed a bit. What do you say....Logan?" Brad said throatily to Logan. "Oh, damn....you too? Well, she is a beauty." Brad said smiling. Bell instantly knew exactly what he was talking about. It was a bit scary but not as much as she thought it would be at first.

"There he goes again. No one ever knows what he is talking about." Griped a young man with silver hair, angrily. "So, what do you see for me, your crazy ol' queer?" He asked spitefully.

"You're such a sleaze, Pietro. Maybe I should tell you....naw..., I'll just let you simmer a bit." Brad said smiling dismissing him with a wave of both hands. His companions just snickered at him. But he heard Bell's sharp intake of breathe. Brad put a finger to his lips. Bell nodded she understood what he meant.

"Why is it that I miss all the fun every time I leave the room?" A very large young man came in. He had blonde hair and a goatee and mustache to match. Bell gasped. She recognized him instantly. She needed no insight of Brad's talent to know him.

"Hey, you're Fred Dukes!" Bell exclaimed. "I remember you! My dad took me to all your appearances when ever you were in the area! Fred Dukes the strongest teenager in the world! Jeez, I just loved going and watching you do your stuff. My dad spent hours and hours trying to figure out how you were able to do all that stuff you did! We met you a bunch of times, and you even signed a picture for us. Gee I never expected to see you again...Wow!" Bell gushed.

"We've met?" Fred asked surprised. He would have remembered her. She was so beautiful! "I don't recognize you at all, I'm sorry...boy am I ever." He muttered that last part. Bell smiled brightly and he swallowed hard.

"I've changed, grown up a bit." Bell said. "I bet you would remember my name though, it's Belinda James, Bell to my friends." Recognition blazed on his face.

"Yeah, I remember now. Your dad he was always asking me questions and stuff, but he was always nice to me. And you were....much smaller then. Guess you've kind of sprouted." Fred Dukes grinned. "It's real nice to see you again. So how's your dad?" Fred asked. Bell's smile faded instantly.

"Um, he died in a car accident three years ago." Bell said quietly.

"Oh gosh, I'm sorry. He always was nice to me." Fred was really sorry.

"Yeah, thanks...I really miss him and mom." The room got a little quiet. But Bell refused to let it get to her again. Twice in one day, not likely. Bell walked over to Fred and patted him on his huge arm. "So how've been? Better then me I hope."

"Yeah, can't complain. Wow, you turned out really swell." Fred smiled. He wasn't unattractive as all that. He had a pleasant face and nice smile. Bell had always liked him. He was always nice to her even if she was just a kid. "So you got a boyfriend or something?" Fred asked, maybe he'd have a chance with her since she seemed to like him.

"She does!" Victor shouted from across the room. Fred looked to see who it was, and was shocked.

"Oh." Fred said quietly and walked away. Even Fred Dukes gave Sabretooth wide berth. Bell gave Victor a stern look. There wasn't any reason for him to do the Alpha male bit.

"Well, Fred," Bell said, "There's no reason we can't be friends still, right?" Bell said. Fred turned and smiled.

"No, no reason at all." Fred agreed. Well it was better then nothing.

"Oh, god...that's quite enough." Another of the young men at the table got up and went over to the jukebox and feed it a handful of quarters and started picking out songs to listen to.

"Lance, could you be more rude, homme'?" Remy said.

"Probably, but I'm not putting myself out for anyone...certainly not for that tall blonde bimbo over there." Lance said testily. Lance had no idea he was about to put his life on the line. To Bell's surprise the danger came from Fred and not Victor. Fred grabbed Lance by the front of his shirt and slammed him up against the wall...hard! It was then Lance realized his mistake.

"Hey Fred, calm down...I didn't mean it honest!" Lance practically squeaked. Lance's companions chuckled at his predicament. No one came to his rescue; Fred still had him by the shirt front and was holding him up by one hand. He looked content to hold him there till next year if need be. Fred just glared at Lance with his face inching closer to his. Lance gulped; he hadn't known the intense feeling that Fred had for the blonde bim---Bell. "Listen I said I was sorry." Lance practically begged.

"Don't apologize to me, Lance...apologize to Bell.....NOW!" Fred gave him an order. Lance swallowed and wrung out his courage as Bruce Springsteen's song, Dancing on the Ceiling' played loudly in the background.


	13. CHAPTER 22 WHEN THE SABRETOOTH'S AWAY

SUMMARY: ALTERNATE UNIVERSE: Magneto never got his hands of the Senator, so he got another subject. He got more then even he ever bargained for or wanted. Sabretooth wasn't raised by a sadistic father. Mystique didn't turn blue when her mutation set in and Wolverine still had his memories.

DISCLAIMER: Darn it I still don't the X-Men! I do own Bell and Sabretooth's grandkids. If you want to use them, ask first.

REVIEWS: Would be nice, thanks.

Rating PG

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CHAPTER 22: WHILE THE SABRETOOTH'S AWAY......

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Lance was screwed and he knew it. Breathing hard it figured that it would be best to make it a good apology. Maybe just maybe, Fred will let him live. 

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking! Honest!" Lance hit notes he hadn't hit since puberty. Fred was stilled pretty angry and he really didn't believe the apology was as sincere as it should have been.

"Hey, Fred....it's okay. He apologized, really its fine. Just put him down, gently. I mean he's still your friend, right?" Bell said soothingly.

"He doesn't really mean it." Fred said looking at Bell. Bell went over to him and laid a calming hand on his arm.

"Just let him go. I bet he won't do or say anything against me again." Bell smiled. Fred just melted. He turned back to Lance and gave him a hard look and set him back down on the floor. Lance took off towards the back of the bar to the restrooms. Bell covered her mouth with a hand and snickered behind it. Fred let out a laugh.

Good, he wasn't angry anymore. Bell smiled at her large friend. "Well at least you got some revenge on him after all." The bar exploded with laughter. It would be a while before Lance could ever live this event down.

Bell was simply giddy. She giggled and cooed and just about danced around the barroom floor. She had her eyes closed some of the time, but Victor could see the red blazing trying to seep out from under her lids. He waved frantically at her. She trotted over to him.

"Listen Bell, James and I are going to be leaving and were bringing back some folks, so do me a favor and stay here. And try to stay out of trouble, alright." Victor said giving Bell a hug and he blew in her ear softly and she giggled. "Try to keep yourself under some kind of control. Please." Victor said in her ear.

"So...now it starts," said Brad. Victor and Logan looked at him. "She'll be fine as long as you aren't away long, so hurry back dears." Brad said lovingly to Victor and his brother.

"Do you really have to go? I'll miss you lots." Bell said mournfully.

"Well, I'll miss you too Babe, but we aren't going to be gone that long." Victor said chuckling. "What's going on with her Brad?" Victor asked. He suspected but he wanted Brad to confirm it.

"She's getting drunk, on the power she's mimicking," Brad whispered. Don't worry; it won't last all day, just a good part of it." Brad said soothingly. "Now you boys better trundle off and bring back your friends. We are going to have a smashing good party...." He laughed, threw back his head and howled. Bell couldn't resist she joined him, so did Victor and Logan. It sounded a bit like a wolf pack calling their territory. Jake laughed.

"Okay gang, that's enough. Just go, Vic." Victor turned to Jake and gave her a couple of large bills. "What's this for?" Jake asked.

"For food and drink for Bell...just in case she gets hungry, and thirsty." Vic said smiling. "I wouldn't be surprise me if she eats you out of food at lunch time." Victor said amused.

"She'll have to have a huge appetite for that to happen." Jake said.

"You should have seen her eat her breakfast this morning. She can sure shovel it in." Victor said, with some pride in his voice.

"Why Victor, that's the nicest thing you've said to me all day." Bell said sweetly, laughing, clinging tightly to Victor. He pried her lose carefully.

"Brad, would you be as kind as to keep an eye on her for me while we're gone. Normally I wouldn't leave her in this state, but I need to bring those folks here." Brad nodded.

"Don't worry Victor; darling...she'll be alright. Hurry back; she won't be only one missing you." Brad puckered up and gave him a distance kiss. Logan laughed at Victor and Victor rolled his eyes.

"Just wait until he starts flirting with you." Victor said in an undertone to Logan.

"I can hardly wait." Logan said sarcastically. They turned and left the bar leaving Bell to herself and Brad. Bell decided to dance to the music and took over the floor.

"Jake, here's a twenty, give me a roll of quarters." Brad said, pulling a bill from his wallet.

"Sure Brad, here ya go. Don't spend them all in one place." Jake joked.

"I plan to, I have you know. Right here, as a matter of fact." Brad said and went over to Bell. "Here darling, put some quarters in the machine and choose your own music to dance to. There's no need for you to dance to Lances music alone." Brad said giving her the roll of quarters.

"Why thank you Brad, your just oh so sweet." She gave him another hug. He simply purred in pleasure. Brad could hardly wait until Victor and Logan brought the others. She'll be more fun then a cast party after a successful opening.

Bell fed the hungry jukebox quarter after quarter and chose her songs carefully. Soon the entire roll of quarters was in the machine. Music would now pretty much be constant for quite a while. After Lance's choice of music was over it was evident that Bell's was better. Her choices were alternating between fun dancing and some slow dancing. She was all over the floor. Brad was the only one who knew how new Bell's body was to her. She moved like a chorus dancer and ballerina. She was flamboyance and elegance at the same time. It was intoxicating to watch her and the men at the bar became hypnotized by her.

She'd been dancing to and singing with the music for almost an hour and not showing any signs of slowing down or getting tired. The lunch crowd started showing up one of them asked, "When did you hire entertainment, Jake?"

"I didn't, she's just waiting for someone. I suggest that you not bother her." Jake said smiling.

"I wasn't, just like watching her. She's an out of work dancer isn't she?"

"No, I don't think she is." Jake smiled. And went back to the bar and filled orders for drink and food.

The male patrons took turns dancing with her, and Brad had the most fun he had in such a long time. She danced with Remy, Pietro and Fred, Brad especially; she even tried to get Lance dance with her but he declined.

After a half hour later more of music and dancing Victor and Logan came back with a gang of friends. Bell simply rushed Victor and jumped into his arms.

"It seems that she is already taken." Said one of the patrons to a friend.

"Was there any doubt?" They looked at each other, "Nahhh."

Victor had learned that Bell had been dancing the whole time he was gone and had nothing to eat, so he ordered for her. The crowd that Victor and Logan brought back was milling around and they were looking for table to sit at. Victor had promised them a good meal and some fun. They were all mutants with a variety of powers. Bell's eyes simply glowed red almost constantly since Victor's and Logan's arrival with Victor's friends. Her body was accommodating the powers that it is sensing. Victor knew that her instincts on handling the new powers will probably take over and she wouldn't need all that much training. Just a little coaching, the proof of that was when she turned into the Sabretooth Tiger early that day, was all that he needed to be certain of her control.

Bell ate with enthusiasm and devoured whatever Victor ordered for her. With no fanfare she announced after eating that it was time to go and she did not hesitate to invite Remy to go with them. Remy looked at her confused.

"Why must Gambit go with Bell, chere'? What's in it for him?" Remy was unsure of how to handle the invitation.

"Your future.... of course! It's a good one, I promise. Go with us now, and it will be. Stay and you'll regret it, maybe not now, not today, not tomorrow...but soon and for the rest of your life." She giggled. "Humphrey Bogart to Ingmar Bergman...Casablanca. But it's no less true for you; trust me." Bell leaned over to Remy and whispered in his ear. "_She's there, the one for you....you'll see. Come with us and meet her, be with her. She's waiting for you... too." _

Remy's eyes widen in surprise. "Your future is waiting....don't turn away from it. Embrace it, grab your coat and staff and come with us. When we leave here, the offer is closed. If you stay you will meet her, but she'll never be yours...ever." Bell said quietly. Her voice carried an ominous tone that sent shivers up his spine. Was she like Brad? He turned to look at Brad and he nodded.

"She's right...go now and all will be well for you...stay...you don't want to stay." Brad said.

"Don't listen, Remy..." Lance said. "They're just pulling your chain." Lance said. Pietro agreed and Fred looked confused. Why Remy and not him? What's so special about Remy? Was there no one for him? Fred sighed, probably not. But Bell smiled at Fred.

"Don't worry Fred; things go alright for you too." Bell smiled. She turned to Remy. "Going once, going twice........" Remy hesitated. "If you come with us, Victor here will pay you three times as much as who ever you're working for now. Won't you Victor?" She smiled at Victor engagingly. He cocked his head...Remy coming with them was important to her. It must mean something. Victor nodded.

"Make that four times as much." Victor said sweetening the deal. Remy's red eyes gleamed. That was more then he could make working for the Thieves Guild in six months, or his present employer. He smiled and got his coat.

"Remy ready to go wherever you lead, Chere'." Remy said putting on his coat and joining Victor, Bell, and Logan.

"You'll be sorry, Remy!" Pietro said angrily.

"Actually he won't be, not now or ever." Bell said to Pietro. She smiled at him sweetly. "She ya later guys....bye for now." Bell skipped out the door with Victor, Logan and Remy on her heels. Victor stopping only briefly to pay Jake for the party that was going to take place with his friends that he brought.

They gathered around Victor's car waiting for him to unlock it. Bell suddenly grabbed Logan and pulled him sharply to her. A crash came from the exact spot Logan had been standing. A huge flowerpot had fallen from a balcony from the building next to Jake's. "Oh my god!!!" A scream came from the balcony, "Is everyone alright?!"

"Everyone's fine, no one got hurt, except the plant." Bell called back. "Poor plant, I don't think it can recover. To bad." She sighed. "What's with you and plants anyway. First a tree knocks you unconscious and now a potted plant wants to bean you." Bell snickered.

"Yeah, who'd would have thunk that plants can be so vicious?" Logan said with humor. That set Bell to giggling almost uncontrollably.

"Strange, Gambit didn't even see chere' take a drink of alcohol." Remy said.

"She's power drunk, Gambit. Climb into the car and we'll be off." Victor said unlocking the car.

"I want to sit in the backseat with Remy." Bell announced. She opened the backdoor behind the driver's seat and climbed in.

"Gambit sits in the back seat with Bell, then." Remy said climbing in beside her. Victor turned to his brother and shrugged. Then the brothers got into the car and Victor started up and car and began the drive out of the large city.

It was at least a half hour drive just to get to out of the city to the highway. It was a decent drive to Westchester from NYC and they had already wasted too much time as it was.

When they got to the more unpopulated area Victor turned off of the highway and started taking a short cut. There wasn't as much traffic and he could drive faster. Bell however had different plans. The car radiated a white light and left the road behind as it lifted off. Suddenly Victor found himself driving a flying car.

"Hey Victor, put some music on for us......Something perky to fly by." Bell said smiling. Victor found an all music channel and continued to point the car towards Westchester. The car picked up speed and they were flying fast. Victor chuckled, this flying car coming from a woman who not all that long ago was afraid to fly.

"Muggles aren't used to seeing flying cars," Bell quoted from the Harry Potter book. "Fortunately there doesn't seem to be any muggles about." Bell laughed and giggled at her joke.

"Bell you don't know where Westchester is, do you?" Victor asked.

"Nope...just drive the car like you would normally. The car will stop, go, turn as you steer and pedal." Bell started to sway with the music being played on the radio.

"What about up and down?" Victor asked.

"Hmmm, I hadn't thought of that." She looked as if she was pondering. "Why don't you press the top of the steering wheel down for down and press the bottom down to go up?" She wrinkled her brow, "Yeah that will do it." Bell said simply and went back to listening to her music. "Oh, if you want to go faster, just press down on the gas pedal like normal."

Victor grinned and pressed the gas pedal, and sure enough the car flew faster. "Thanks Bell. This is great!" Victor grinned.

"Remy doesn't understand. Bell, she has the power to make things fly?" Remy asked.

"Remy, Bell has the power to do just about everything at the moment." Victor crowed.

"What does Bell do?"

"She's what we call a power mimic." Logan said looking back at Remy and smiling.

"Gambit heard of those before. But not this powerful." Remy said.

"She takes the power from others and gives them a boost." Victor said. "Of course we'll need someone to confirm it. But it seems so obvious now." Victor feeling a bit adventurous he stomped on the gas and the car simply sped up to 90 miles an hour in the air. Victor laughed with glee and Logan smiled. Remy looked a little pale.

"Don't watch the scenery go by if you don't want to hurl." Bell giggled. Without the hassle of turns and bumps and traffic the car was making really good time.

"Do you know where the school is?" Logan asked Victor.

"Of course, I've kept the place under surveillance for a while now. I can even find the place from the air. So it won't be a problem. My, we are making good time." Victor said.

A half hour later they were only a mile or two away from the school. "Ah Bell, you can put us down now." Victor said. "I can drive us there from here." Bell acted if Victor hadn't said anything. "Uh, Bell. Bell. Can you hear me?" Bell still didn't answer. She was lost to them in the music and her power. "Remy give her a nudge, won't you." Victor said.

"Are you sure that wise, homme'?' Asked Remy, being a little concerned that Bell might be angry at being disturbed.

"We've got no choice in the matter, we're coming up on the school and unless you want to go all the way to Florida, I suggest you get her attention now." Victor said.

Taking a deep breath Remy shook Bell gently and called to her.

"Bell, we be there soon. You can put us down, now." Remy said gently; his accent extra thick. She turned to him and blinked.

"Oh, okay. Would right here be alright, Victor?" Bell asked a little dazed.

"Of course, a nice soft landing would be a must, thank you." Victor said gently.

"Sure. Not a problem." And sooner done then said, they were traveling over the road to the school. There wasn't a noticeable bump; it was as smooth as if they'd been traveling over the road the whole time.

In two minutes the customized muscle car carrying the four mutants entered the gates of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Little did the school know that from this moment on, things would never be the same.


	14. CHAPTER 23: WELCOME TO XAVIER'S SCHOOL ...

CHAPTER 23: WELCOME TO XAVIER'S SCHOOL OF MAGIC AND MAYHEM

* * *

Xavier felt them before they came to a stop just outside the school. The presence of Logan was familiar and he even caught the presence of Sabretooth. Oh, dear. Sabretooth here! Well, Logan did say he knew him; maybe he's come here in peace. That would be refreshing.

The students that were outside heard and saw the customize car come up the drive and pull into the parking lot in front of the school. Many of the boys and some of the girls eagerly went to see it close up. There were ohs, and ahs at the beautiful muscle car and a predatory glint showed up in several of the older boys' eyes. Their eyes really bugged out when the doors opened and the driver and passengers of the car got out. The driver was over seven foot tall and dressed quite nicely. They were expecting something other then an elegant gentlemen. Logan got out as well, and though the gossip line was out about him, no one had actually seen him so he was an unknown as well. When Bell got out of the car the boys' mouths dropped open. They had never seen any woman like her before.

She stretched up and spread her arms wide getting the muscles back in line from being cramped inside the car. She yawned and her elongated canines did not go unnoticed. Whispers fired all around her and she grinned. Remy was noticed and his face and figure was filed away for future references.

The welcoming committee started showing up. Xavier rolled out the front door and wasted no time to welcome his guests. Jean and Ororo and Scott were also with him. Scott looked a bit perturbed. Logan guessed it was about the motorcycle. He grinned and waved at Jean and beamed for Ororo. He wondered if Raven was going to show up to welcome him back. Ah, there she was with Marie close behind. He poked Victor in the ribs with his elbow and nodded over to Raven.

"Is that her, James?" Victor asked quietly. As they got closer he stared in surprise. "Oh, my god. She looks just like......" He trailed off.

"Yeah, now that I have had time to think about it, she does." Logan sighed. "I just hope Raven's told her everything...it will make it easier." Logan said to his brother. Victor could only nod.

Bell nudged Remy. He looked at her in confusion. "What is it?" Remy asked.

"That's her," Bell said pointing at the girl with long brunette hair covered in layers of clothes, wearing gloves, "go say hi to her." Bell said.

"That beautiful petite' she's the one for Gambit?" Remy asked.

"That's her, go say hi. But be careful, her skin is dangerous to touch. But if you're smart, you'll find away around it. But give it time. She'll be worth it." Remy wasted no time in following Bell's advice. He strutted up to her and gave her a regal bow and took her gloved hand and fearlessly kissed it gallantly beaming at her. Marie was flustered, and blushed at Remy's forwardness.

"It's an honor to meet you petite', Gambit is pleased to meet such a beautiful fem'." Marie's mouth dropped open, she recognized the deep Louisiana accent and she smiled.

"It's good to meet you too, Gambit. My name is Rogue." She smiled and Remy found his heart falling to his feet. He swallowed in surprise at his reaction to her. Victor raised an eyebrow at him and looked at Bell, and she looked like a matchmaker beaming over the perfect match. He took a deep breath; this could get interesting and then some.

Victor walked over to Raven. "Raven."

"Victor." She answered. They both stared at each other quietly. "I believe we need to talk." She swallowed. For nearly seventeen years she has dreaded this day, and now it was here. Too her surprise he had no fury or anger nor hatred in his eyes; only questions. She cleared her throat and squeaked, "You're looking very well."

"You're not looking so bad yourself." Victor answered. The awkwardness of the moment dragged on in silence. Jean walked over and greeted Victor.

"Hello, my name is Jean Grey, and you are....." She said. She was probably trying to break the ice that was forming between Raven and Victor.

"This is Victor Creed Walker....my husband." Jean looked shocked. She had heard of him of course, but she never expected to meet him.

"Hello Victor, welcome to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngster's." Jean recovered. "It's nice to finally meet you. Raven is such a good friend and a brilliant teacher. We are lucky to have her here."

"No doubt about that." Victor said. "Would it be too much trouble to talk to Raven in private for a while, we have some issues to settle."

"That's not a problem at all." Jean said, leaving them alone to speak to each other. She walked over to Logan and Bell. She watched Remy talking and flirting with Rogue. They seem to have hit it off right away. The blonde woman was the largest she had ever seen. She wondered if she and Victor were related.

"Jeanne, this is Belinda James, Bell to her friends. And that brash young man is Remy LeBeau, Gambit by name." Logan said introducing his companions. "Bell this is Dr. Jean Grey, Professor Xavier and Ororo Munroe and the skinny kid over there giving me the knives behind his goggles is Scott Summers. He's probably looking for his bike." He chuckled.

"Yeah, where did you leave it?" Scott asked.

"I didn't leave it anywhere." Logan said. "Hey bro, the keys to the car if you don't mind!" Logan shouted at Victor. He had been quietly talking with Raven. He reached into his pocket and pulled them out and tossed them to Logan who caught them easily. He gave Vic a quick nod and opened the back of the car. To everyone's surprise he pulled out a hidden rack and there was Scott's motorcycle. Logan cranked the rack around and he sat the rack on the ground and unlatched the clamps from the bike. He then rolled the cycle over to Scott. "You'll notice that it has nearly a full tank. She's a sweet ride, thanks."

For once Scott was for a loss of words. He hadn't expected a thank you or his cycle in tiptop shape either. "Your welcome, and thanks for bringing it back." Now that Scott wasn't so stiff anymore he was curious about the car and its unusual feature. "Uh, what happened with Sabretooth?" Scott asked. He didn't expect to see Logan back this soon if ever.

"Well, we had a long chat and seem that Sabretooth has been retired for now." Logan said, not giving anything away.

"You talked him into retirement? How did you do that? He's supposed to be quite dangerous and stubborn." Scott said with astonishment.

"True, but he can be reasoned with on occasion." Logan grinned.

"Did you just call the big guy, bro?" Scott asked. "Were you using it as an expression or...." Scott trailed off waiting for some kind of confirmation.

"Why don't we wait until Raven and her husband have a chance to talk it out, okay?" Logan said. "So Wheels, I'd like to introduce Bell here a little better. She's really something. Come over here Bell and meet Professor Xavier, Charles he likes to be called." Logan said to Bell.

"Okay, he kind of finds you calling him Wheels amusing though." Bell giggled.

"You're a telepath?" The professor asked.

"I am now. Nice place you got here. I think I'll like living here. You know, I think I'll go take a tour of the place." Bell announced and she lifted from the ground and started flying away.

"Bell, Bell!! Come back here!" Logan shouted. Victor turned his head and saw Bell flying by him out of the corner of his eye.

"Oh, hell! Okay, which one of you or your students have the ability to fly?" Victor asked irritably. Ororo timidly raised her hand.

"That would be me." She smiled shyly.

"Great, just great. First I can't get her into a helicopter without freaking out...now she levitates cars, and flies by herself without a care in the world. I really don't know what....." Victor ranted.

"I really don't want to interrupt you, but what exactly is going on with your friend Bell?" Jean asked.

"She's a power mimic, and powerful one at that," Xavier said. "How long have you known that she was a power mimic?" He asked Victor.

"It started to be really evident since early this morning." Victor said.

"Well, how many powers does she have?" Xavier asked.

"That's kind of hard to say, I'm not sure she's mastered them all, yet." Victor sighed. "Uh, maybe you can fly after and get her to come back." Victor said to Ororo.

"That won't be necessary, Storm. I'll call her back." Xavier said calmly. "Ah, she's on her way back. It seems that she can mix and match powers as well. Just who else's powers does she have at the moment?" Xavier asked.

"Well, she can morph, levitate, forecast the future....she's been around Remy, Fred Dukes, Lance and Pietro. So she's probably very fast and very strong. She's mimicked my healing factor and heightened senses perfectly." Victor grinned. Ororo and Scott gasped. Not at the tally, though it was impressive enough, but at the man in front of them. They had encountered him just two days before.

"You're....." Scott was interrupted.

"Victor, I don't want to bother you too much, but I did send those papers to you." Raven said. Victor nodded.

"Here they are," Victor said taking folded blue legal pages from his inside jacket pocket. He grabbed a pen and unfolded the papers and smoothed them out and held them on the roof of his car and signed all the pages with flair. "There, signed and dated today. Just file them in the nearest courthouse and it'll be legal in about a month or less. If you want any monetary division of the estate, just ask. It won't be a problem at all." Victor smiled kindly at her. "Oh, and I saw Graydon this morning, he had brought his terror mongers with him. Just loved the new one, Teddy Bear." Victor chuckled.

"You didn't! Boy, I bet that Sandra was ticked off." Raven said rolling her eyes.

"Almost beyond words, now the rest of the kids are doing it." Victor got such a kick out of that. Raven had to smile. There was a moment of two of silence, when Bell came flying back and landing next to Victor and Raven.

"Hi Raven, it's really nice to meet you," Bell prattled on excitably. She was flying high in more ways then one. Her eyes were blazing the darkest and brightest red that Victor had seen yet. Bell was talking so fast and furious that no one had a clue what she was saying. Victor was starting to get worried; maybe it wasn't such a good idea to bring her here after all. But he calmed down a bit after he remembered that Brad said she'd be alright. Maybe all she needed was a bit of coaching. It worked this morning when he got her to morph.

"Bell, Bell!! Calm down. Slow down, breath deep and close your eyes." Victor said, getting Bell's attention. Bell looked at him confused. Then he saw realization on her face and she stopped talking and took the deep breath that Victor told her to and she closed her eyes. Her breathing started to match Victor's and so did her heartbeat.

When she finally opened her eyes, they no longer glowed red; they were the dark eyes that matched Victor's.

"Oh, I'm sorry; I seemed to have gotten a little out of hand there." Bell said, and smiled embarrassedly.

"That's quite alright, Babe, just try to stay calm. I know it's hard to do right now, but it can be done." Victor said soothingly.

"You're rather good at that. Have you considered teaching?" Xavier asked Victor.

"Well, I have in the past. I just might again." Victor could feel the eyes of Scott and Ororo on him. He could smell the angst from where he was standing. He wasn't surprised that they had a grudge against him. He was willing to face that. It would not be a problem, at least not for him.

"Raven, have you told her everything?" Victor asked while looking at Marie talking with Remy. They had only been interested in each other and didn't even notice that Bell had been flying or talking.

"Yes I have." Raven said a little sad.

"How did she take it?" Victor asked.

"Well, she has always known she was adopted, that hadn't bothered her. But she was upset for the reason why she was adopted out." Raven sighed. "I was relieved that she doesn't hate me. Couldn't blame her for hating me if she did ....or you for that matter."

"Hate you? Oh Raven I could never hate you. I've loved you for too long for that. It's just that.....I'll always love you, it's just that.... I'm not in love with you anymore." He said softly. This conversation should have been in private, but everyone heard. There was an awkward silence. The statement Victor made was a profound one. Raven nodded.

"It's been true for me as well." She looked down at the papers that she was holding. "To tell you the truth, there's someone new in my life now." Raven said unexpectedly.

"Mine too," Victor smiled and looked at Bell.

"Her?" Raven asked. She chuckled, yeah, that would be just perfect.

"Mine's a norm, yours isn't even close to being norm, even for a mutant." She laughed. She no longer had that sadness in her eyes or in her scent. She turned to look at Marie. "I guess we better introduce her to her father before she runs off and marries that young man over there."

"Good idea." Victor said laughing.

"Marie! Marie! I need to talk to you." Raven called to Marie and walked over to her, with Victor on her heels. Marie turned to look at Raven; she seemed a little upset that she was being interrupted. "I'd like to introduce you to your father, Victor." Marie looked up at him. She was surprised on how tall and large he was. Something in the back of her mind tickled her memory.

"James said you were a beauty and he was right, I am so please to have met you finally." Victor said in a pleasant and soft voice.

"James? Who's James?" She asked, and then it hit her. The large man that attacked them in Canada called Logan ....James. He caught the scent and was not disappointed. She was quick, he smiled. "You hit him with a tree! And now you're here together?!" She looked at him in shock. Her father was Sabretooth! "You're Sabretooth!!! Sabretooth is my father!?" Marie was in shock, along with everyone else. Remy's mouth dropped open. He'd been flirting with Victor's daughter. Remy couldn't feel anger coming from Victor about him, so he stopped worrying.

"Nothing personal, just business. That being over with.... Sabretooth has gone into retirement...for now." He smiled at her, and her mouth dropped open. This was the same man? The man in front of her couldn't possibly be Sabretooth; he seems so civilized and charming.

"You hit Logan with a tree!" She paused. "You call him James, why?" Marie seem to have calmed down. Her curiosity was taking over her anger.

"He seems to be alright, Marie." Victor said smiling.

"But you could have killed him." Marie countered. Victor laughed. "You could have!" Marie scolded. "Stop laughing it's not funny!" Logan was laughing too. He could not laugh when Victor laughed. "What's the matter with you, Logan? He could have killed you!" Logan laughed harder. "I'm missing something, aren't I? You act as if he was your friend or something."

"Victor's not my friend." Logan said between laughs.

"Aha!" Marie exclaimed in satisfaction.

"He's my brother. My, very big, older brother," Logan announced. Mouths everywhere started dropping open. "Well, I did tell you I've known him a long time, didn't I?" Logan said with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

"You're my uncle?" Marie asked. She thought she couldn't be shocked any more...she was wrong.

"I knew you were related to me when we first met, but I didn't know how close. Why do you think I helped you? Because I'm a nice guy...because I'm not." Logan said.

"Yes you are." Victor said.

"Am not," Logan retorted.

"Are too," Victor said. Bell rolled her eyes.

"There they go again. Jeez, somebody stop them. In fact hit both of them with a tree!" Bell said. Both Victor and Logan looked at her, they weren't sure if she was joking. With her combined powers she could easily do just that, and the stopped bickering.


	15. CHAPTER 24: PREPARATIONS

SUMMARY: ALTERNATE UNIVERSE: Wolverine still has his memory, Sabretooth wasn't raised by a sadistic father and Mystique didn't turn blue when her mutation set in. Magneto wasn't able to get his hands on Senator Kelly and found another subject instead. He got more then even he ever wanted or could handle.

DICLAIMER: I still don't own the X-Men, rats! I own Bell and Sabretooth's grandkids, though. If ya want to use them ask first.

Sorry about taking so long to update. It's hard to write about those guys with healing factors when you're suffering with a cold.

* * *

CHAPTER 24: PREPARATIONS

* * *

Marie was shocked out of her anger by Bell's statement. Bell was still in a huff, and Marie wondered just what had been going on with the three of them for her to be so casual towards them.

"I mean it boys; if you don't stop arguing I'm gonna hit you both with a tree, or two." Logan and Victor just burst out laughing.

"Aw, come on Bell we were just having a bit a fun." Logan said calmingly.

"Yes, well, we are running out of time that we don't have. First we got to fill everybody in on what's going on, and then we got to get this place ready for Erick and his gang. He's not gonna play nice." She pointed at Victor, "You of all people should know that!" The good natures of both Victor and Logan were deflated quickly.

"She's right, of course. Charles have we got a story for you. It may be better if we take this inside and keep it just among us for the time being." Logan said in a business like tone pointing to the teachers gathered. Charles getting a bit from their public minds nodded.

"All right children, back to your regular activities. We'll be informing you of what is going on later." The youngsters that had assembled to see the strangers and their car, grumbled a bit, but obeyed. The Professor was pretty good at telling them what was going on, so they would wait until he thought it was time to tell them.

Bell was getting antsy and led the way at a quick trot. She knew the way around the mansion like she lived there for years. She turned to everyone and scowled.

"Well, come on we don't have all day!" Victor and Logan smiled. They watched as she bounced up and down on her toes.

"Calm down Bell, we're coming. Logan said calmly.

"It won't work, Logan. See, her eyes are starting to glow red again." Victor said. Victor turned his head to look at Marie who turned off to go to another part of the mansion. "Going somewhere, Marie? This concerns you too." She gave him a questioning look. "Yes, it does. It has a lot to do with you. In fact it's all about you." Victor said. Marie paled. Victor saw Raven gulp fearfully. He knew her to be rather brave, but she was concerned for her daughter, as well as he was.

They entered the office together and Bell was pacing back and forth like a caged tiger. She stared at Victor piercingly. "Well, don't just stand there, fill them in." She said irritably.

So Victor started his story of how he was 'recruited' to find and retrieve a female mutant. He also related Bell's story of how Erick had 'made' her.

"Yeah, I was dying and Victor here saved my life." Bell said smiling. Scott was astounded that she didn't even blame Sabretooth for getting her in dire straits in the first place. She gave Scott a hard look. "Well he did!"

"Bell," Xavier said patiently.

"Yeah, I know...he was just thinking it so loud." Bell grumbled.

"Scott it would be best that you refrained from thinking about anything other then what we are talking about." Xavier said. Scott nodded. The Professor had trained him and his other older students how to guard their thoughts.

"Erick has gotten his machine working fairly well, but it's still too strong. He doesn't realize he doesn't need it to be so strong. I tried to tell him, but he won't listen to anybody else. Certainly not to Sabretooth, that's for sure." Victor said a bit bitterly.

"Erick only sees what Erick wants to see. Other people's opinions matter little in his scheme of things." Xavier said sadly.

"So I noticed." Said Victor drolly. "And those who oppose him automatically become his enemy." He turned to look at Raven who nodded. There was a minute or two of silence.

"Scott, gather the students in cafeteria. I need them instructed on what to do tonight. Marshall the older students into teams and assign some to watch and guard the younger children." The professor said. Scott nodded, and waited for the orders for the others. "Jean prepare the med-lab for injuries, just in case." Jean sighed and hoped it wouldn't be necessary.

"Remy, you need to stay with Marie, don't leave her alone for any reason, no matter what you hear going on." Bell said sternly. Remy cocked his head. "Marie is Rogue." A flash of understanding lit up in his red eyes.

"Remy didn't know that she has such a pretty name." He smiled at her and she grinned back reassured.

"Everyone, I will handle Erick. Only I can do that. I'm more powerful than he is. You two," She said pointing at Victor and Logan "Will be useless against him, just handle the others." Bell cocked her head and her eyes blaze bright white. "Oh, dear! I really need to do something else." She said distraught.

"What is it, Bell?" Logan asked. Bell put up a hand and cocked her head another time or two.

"Ah, that's better. I think that'll do fine." She smiled. "Well, what are the two of you waiting for? Better crank up the security defenses, we're gonna need them." She said to Victor and Logan.

"Scott before you assemble the students show Logan and Victor the security systems, if there's anybody who know how to improve them in a short time we have it will be them." Xavier said. Scott nodded and led the two men out the door. "Ororo why don't you take Marie and Remy to the lower levels and show them were they can wait out the trouble."

"But sir, I really would like to help." Marie said.

"You will be helping, not getting in the way and staying out of Magneto's sight will be helping." Xavier said quietly. "After all you're the one he's coming for." Marie took a deep breath. She nodded. She didn't like being the cause of all this. "You're not Marie, its Erick's doing, not yours. Try not to take it so hard, just stay out of sight."

"Yeah, Marie, you don't have to worry for a few hours yet, Erick and his crew won't show up until six or so." Bell said reassuring. "Get some rest, grab something to eat and get to know your new friend." Bell said grinning. "Everything will be all right," she said, and her eyes glowed white again. "Yes, everything will be just fine." She smiled.

"This way gentleman," Scott said turning to Victor and Logan. They followed behind closely. Scott led them to the security room and unlocked the security code on the computer terminal.

Victor frowned, and looked over the security camera video screens; they seemed to be fairly good at covering the entire estate borders. There were some that looked over onto the road and others that watched the extensive pastures that housed the horses. There were also in home cameras as well.

"Unfortunately, Erick can turn these off," Victor said pointing at the outside cameras, "without a thought. Of course that would alert us to his presence." He was then lost in thought. "HMMM, maybe we should set up some special alerts and some delays without using metal." Logan nodded.

"Yeah, it has to have absolutely no metal at all, he could probably sense even a little bit." Logan said, and Victor nodded. "Does this school have a fairly good supply of non-metal items?" Logan asked. "We'll need tools too."

"That's not a real problem. We have a good well equipped shop and tool shed." Scott said. "If you need anything else, I can take you into town to the local depot supplier." Both Victor and Logan smiled.

"Let's see what you have in supply first. A trip into town, unless needed, would be a waste of our time." Victor said. "I can make do with what is at hand." He smiled; a chill went down Scott's back. It was somewhat an evil grin, and his eye had a malicious glint to it. He looked at Logan, and his chill was doubled. There was exchange of grins and smiles from the brothers. They've worked together before obviously.

"Show us the way, Scott. Then you better handle the students. We can take it from there. If we need your help, we'll send for ya." Logan said nodding. Scott realizing that they were professionals left to gather the students.

While Scott was going on this errand, he thought about two days ago when he rescued Logan and Marie from Sabretooth. It was surreal that now Sabretooth was here and now helping them against his former employer and held no resentment from him from blasting him. In fact he hadn't even mentioned it. It probably hurt him a lot but not a word or even a look of anger at him. What kind of man was/is Sabretooth? Bell didn't even seem angry at him for what happened to her. In fact there seem to be more between them then just the event. Raven never told him or the others about her husband being Sabretooth, and it was obvious that she knew. It was confusing, by rights, Sabretooth should have been seriously pissed at his wife about not knowing about a daughter after all those years. But instead he seemed kind, sensitive and understanding. Why was he a mercenary? He apparently didn't seem the type, was there more? Scott hadn't been watching were he was going and walked into one of the students on there way to class.

"Oh, sorry Mr. Summers, I didn't see you." She said, apologizing.

"Oh, no, Marge, it's my fault. I should have been watching where I was going. Will you do me a favor?"

"Of course, Mr. Summers." Marge said.

"Would you tell the students from your class to gather in the cafeteria?"

"Sure, is something up?" Marge asked.

"It'll be explained there. Just spread the word." Scott said smiling.

"Sure thing, Mr. Summers." Marge said and went to tell her class the message.

Scott went to gather students from their dorms, those whose classes were finished and those who were between classes. The school hours were almost over anyway and it didn't bother the students that classes would be shortened. He knew most of the students had gotten the gossip of new arrivals already and were doubly curious as to what was going on. Scott arrived in the cafeteria and there were some already there. Some had come by for snacks or using the cafeteria for gathering, talking and studying. Some of the very young students trotted in chattering and laughing and traveling in small but rambunctious groups, some of them separating themselves into certain ages and sexes, depending on their mutual interests at the moment.

It wasn't long before almost all the students and many of the teachers were gathered in the large room. Scrapping of chairs and thumps of books on tables were scattered around the large room in echoes. Raven and Ororo came in and sat at the teacher's table and the room started quieting down. Professor Xavier had alerted most of the students by his 'in head intercom' and the students had responded quickly. The whispering had reached a fevered pitch and stopped completely when a huge woman with wild blonde hair and dark eyes, dressed in rather expensive looking clothes walked in behind Xavier with huge strides.

"Everyone, I need your attention, please!" Scott said raising his voice over the whispering started again, and comments on whom the strange woman was. Bell smiled at some of the older male students who had commented on her appearance. She winked at one of the handsome blonde boys that had been talking to each other earlier. When they realized that she had heard what they had said about her, they blushed. The room became quiet and still as they turned their attention to Professor Xavier.

"Good afternoon all, I have some announcements to make. The last classes of the day are cancelled. They will be of course resumed tomorrow. I'd like to introduce my friend here. Her name is Belinda James." The professor said. There was a chorus of "Hello, Ms. James." She nodded and smiled at the kids. There were some gasps of surprise when some of them noticed her canines. She chuckled. The gasps were only in surprise, not fear.

One of the younger students piped up. "Is Ms. James gonna be a new teacher here?" The little girl with a ponytail in a red matching skirt and shirt asked.

"Not at this time, Jenny. She's here to tell you a story." The young children got really excited. They loved stories, and it was kind of exciting to have someone different come to tell them stories. Bell heard in her head, "Please try to keep it as G rated as you can." Bell nodded to the Professor and advanced to the center of the room.

"Hello everyone, my name is Belinda James, Bell to my friends." Bell started. She smiled when the youngest students chorused, "Hello, Bell." "I'm going to tell you a story."

"Is it a real fun story?" Jenny asked.

"It's a true story, Jenny. And it does have some fun in it." Bell said kindly. Bell's eyes glowed bright white, and the ohs and ahs were impressive. "What? Huh?" She turned to Xavier. "Oh, I didn't realize that they did that. Thanks."

"Let's see where should I start?" Bell asked.

"Once upon a time?" Jenny said. The room laughed. The tension had evaporated.

"Thanks, Jenny. Once upon a time, I was a fairly normal person. I was not as tall as I am now, nor did I have blonde hair. One night, on my birthday...My father and mother and I went out to a nice dinner at really great restaurant. We had such a nice time and we talked and talked. It was the best birthday I had in such a long time." Bell took a deep breath. "Well, on the way home a car came out of nowhere and crashed into us. It was going very fast and it didn't even stop at the red light." She closed her eyes and took another deep breath. Most of the younger kids were getting scared. She could smell it.

"My parents were killed right away." There were sympathetic groans from most of the students. "Yes, well I was hurt very badly. I spend almost a year in the hospital. I had to learn everything all over again. Walking and talking, thinking in a new way."

"Was it really hard?" Asked Jenny, quietly.

"Very hard....but I tried and tried to do everything like I used to. I finally got to be almost the way I was. But the man who had hit us, made it even more difficult for me."

"You mean he never went to jail?" One of the boys asked.

"Not a day. They didn't even take away his license. He had been drinking, a lot. But since he was a Senator, he was able to get away with it." Bell's eyes glowed a very dark red. One of the older boys scoffed loudly.

"A Senator, it figures!" One of the pretty blonde boys said. His tone was sarcastic and cynical and punctuated it with a click of a lighter.

"Yes and my story gets even better. The Senator's name is Senator Robert Kelly." The smell of the room changed dramatically. Even the youngest of them had heard of Kelly.

"The reason he got away with doing what he did, 'cause you're a mutant?" Jenny asked.

"No I wasn't a mutant then." Bell said, grinning. "He got away with it 'cause he's got lots of power and influence." This was perfect. He was the bad guy and they were getting into the story. Xavier almost wasn't going to let her tell her story. He wanted to protect his students, but Bell convinced him it would be best to bring it out in the open. Especially since everything that happened to her was going to involve them shortly and for the long run. She had shown him what she had seen thru her new powers and he was impressed by her candor, and he agreed. "I was just a normal human."

"You weren't even gonna be a mutant?" Jenny asked, curious. Bell shook her head. "Then how did you become one?"

"Jenny. Quit 'rupting. Let her tell the story." One of the boys sitting at Jenny's table complained. Jenny turned to the boy and wrinkled her nose at him and stuck out her tongue.

"Now Paul, don't scold Jenny." Bell said. "She can ask questions. They are good ones." Jenny stuck out her tongue at Paul again.

"Jenny, that's quite enough." Professor Xavier scolded lightly trying not to laugh. Jenny settled back into her chair.

"Well, believe or not, I owe the fact I'm a mutant to Kelly as well." Bell grinned. An excited buzz moved around the room at light speed. They knew that Kelly hated mutants with a passion and being Kelly's fault that Bell was a mutant was an oxymoronic thing. "Let me finish explaining my story. I had to have several jobs to pay for my medical treatments and therapy. It was hard to have two jobs and I worked very hard. But I wasn't getting anywhere. I thought it would be a good idea to find a way to get the man responsible to pay for his crime. Easier said then done, for certain." She took a deep breath. "He had heard that I was doing just that and he started doing stuff to prevent me from making it public and bringing it into the courts. My lawyer," She scuffed. "My lawyer decided it would be more profitable to get to Kelly instead of working for me." The boy with the lighter rolled his eyes and said quietly. "Yeah, I can see where this is going."

"You're quite right John," Bell said. "But to make it just a lot more difficult for me he managed, I still don't know how, or why, he was able to freeze what little assets I had."

"Weird, I thought he would save that sort of stuff for mutants." John said darkly.

"Yeah, well it gets better." Bell said lightly. Her eyes glowed a dangerous red though. "He managed to get me fired from both my jobs. Cute, huh? If you think he's done with me, you guess it; a bad guy just keeps being the bad guy. He got to my landlord." She saw the faces and heard the groans. "No matter how much I wanted to pay back the medical bills, I always, I always saved enough out to keep my rent up by months. But did that save me? No. It. Did. Not. My landlord was intimidated enough to lock me out of my apartment with everything I own still in it." The younger kids were boooooing the story with enthusiasm.

"Now my story gets a little bit exciting. I was thinking of what to do with myself while walking in the park, when all of a sudden I was confronted by.....Sabretooth." She dragged out the name and gave it a menacing feel to it. "Why he even growled at me!" She mimicked the growl that Sabretooth greeted her with. The younger students eyes got big and the older students gulped; simply because it was so realistic and they had heard of Sabertooth.

"Oh no! Bell, were you afraid!" Jenny asked, excitedly.

"I was surprised when he stepped out in front of me, but I wasn't afraid."

"You weren't afraid??" Jenny asked her eyes wide. She was waiting for the rest of the story, Bell was certain.

"No, not even when Sabretooth picked me up.... and threw me over his shoulder." Bell said smiling.

"Not even then?"

"Nope...I wasn't afraid of Sabretooth at all." Jenny could hardly believe it, and she said 'wow', a lot.

"Then what happened?" Paul asked, leaning forward.

"He carried me away out of the park and put me in his car." Bell said. The younger children were latched onto the story and the older students were getting a bit nervous. Bell made it sound like an exciting adventure getting kidnapped by one of the most dangerous mutants around. "He drove really fast thru the city and there wasn't a cop in sight." Bell snickered.

"Golly." Jenny said, dropping her jaw.

"He drove me to the airport and made me get into a helicopter. And he piloted it himself. Fortunately for me, I fell asleep." Bell was the only one who heard John say, _"Holy Shit,"_ under his breath. Bell could almost start to agree with him, after about taking the time to think of what had happened to her in the last two days. Telling the story helped.

"Yes, well after I woke up, I found myself in Sabretooth's arms; he had carried me into some kind of base. I saw another fellow there when I woke up, he had green skin and Sabretooth called him Toad."

"Then what happened?" Paul asked really getting into the story.

"Well, the man who Sabretooth worked for had him strap me into a metal chair. Both my arms and legs were locked in shackles, real tight." Jenny said golly again, and Paul said wow. "Then he turned on a machine and did something to me." She blinked, remembering the pain she had been in. "The machine had hurt me a lot; in fact I was dying from the effect of the machine." Mouths had dropped open. She didn't look like she was dying now.

"Sabretooth took me away to the woods by a lake and stayed with me for a while and held my hand." She could see Jenny's mouth gape wider and wider. "After about an hour, I became a mutant."


	16. CHAPTER 25: DEALING WITH BULLIES: LESSO...

CHAPTER 25: DEALING WITH BULLIES: LESSON 2

* * *

"So, you're a mutant now?" Jenny asked.

"That's right. The machine awoke something in me, and Sabretooth by holding my hand saved my life." Bell said smiling.

"Did he mean to save your life?" Asked Paul, skeptically. "'Cause he'd never save it for real."

"He actually didn't know he was saving my life at the time." Bell said trying to soothe Paul. "But he did. One of his gifts is healing very fast, and I imitated him. Because my body was really sick and hurt it became like him. I look like him now. I can imitate all kinds of mutant talent." Bell explained.

"Betcha can't imitate mine…." Jenny grinned.

"Betcha I can." Bell replied. She held out her hand and a ball of white light with a blue center appeared in her hand. It left her hand and hovered for a time and then zoomed all over the room. It returned to her hand and then faded away. There were gasps of surprise from everyone, mostly from Jenny.

"Hey!!" Jenny exclaimed. "Even I can't do that yet!"

"You'll be able to after lots and lots of practice." Bell smiled kindly at the little girl. Jenny clapped her hands with glee and bounced up and down on her chair. She was going to start practicing right this very second.

"But not right now, Jenny. You can begin your practice later." Xavier said when he saw that she was intending to begin her practice here and now. The room shared a happy laugh. Jenny giggled, slightly embarrassed. But she also looked encouraged and determined.

Bell decided to show off her new talents to everyone. It was an impressive show of power and yet she held back. The kids thought they were seeing something from the video games they played brought to life; or from the Harry Potter movies. She had perfect control over her new powers. She flew; she juggled fire, put out the fire with ice and generally did what most of the kids in the room could do.

"Show off!" A male voice came from the door. Everyone turned to look and saw the two other new arrivals stand at the entrance of the cafeteria watching Bell do her stuff. She giggled and stopped doing the impressive stuff and walked over to Victor and gave him a hug. He stood back and looked at her. His sunglasses were perched on the end of his nose and he looked over the dark lenses like he was studying something very interesting. And he was. How was she able to have such perfect control over her newly acquired powers? He hadn't a clue. Maybe it was from Brad's vision talent or from Professor Xavier. Either way, it was impressive. And just early, very early this morning she was a hare's breath from death.

"So what are you two doing here?" Bell asked.

"We're checking on the interior of the school." Logan said loud enough for everyone to hear, but muttered in Bell's ear. "And set booby traps for our visitors." Bell inhaled in surprise.

"I forgot something. I guess I better finish up here." She turned back to the students. She took a deep breath and addressed the room at large. "The man, who did this to me, wants to turn a lot more people into mutants with his machine. But they won't be as lucky as I was. They won't have a mutant with healing powers holding their hands. So I and my new friends are going to help me stop him."

"We want to help too!" Jenny piped up. Bell smiled. Jenny certainly wasn't shy.

"Good…. because I'm going to need your help in stopping him." Jenny smiled and clapped her hands. Everyone made similar affirmations to that effect. "Your job is to stay out of the way, for now. You see, that man is coming here to this school." There were whispers and shuffling among the kids of all ages. "And since we are the good guys, we're going to win." There was a general cheer that went up from the younger students. She sent a message to Xavier. She actually told him that it would be best to bribe the younger students with a special treat.

"After we beat the bad guys, the Professor is going to send out for your favorite pizza. Just write up your favorite kind of pizza and he'll be sure to order it." She turned to Xavier who nodded to the cafeteria. It was a small price to pay to see to it that all the children were safe. "So you must stay in your rooms until it's over. It won't take all that long, I promise. We eat some pizza, watch TV and go to bed. Sounds good, yes?"

Cheers from even the older students went up. Xavier sent messages via brain waves to the older students to remain behind so he could speak with them. "Don't get too anxious, the excitement won't be starting until after six, so you still have time to do your homework," groans circulated around the cafeteria, "play games and you know, stuff." Bell smiled.

"Well, that's it for now, plenty of time to get ready for the brouhaha, so I've got some stuff to do, so I got to dash." Bell said and she disappeared in a flash. One second she was there, the other, she was gone. In her wake she left some astonished kids.

"Show off!" Declared Victor, while Xavier chuckled.

"All right students, you may be dismissed. As Bell said, we would appreciate that all of you stay in your rooms tonight, and afterwards we can have our pizza night, tonight." Happy students bustled about speaking and arguing about what to have on their pizzas. The younger students were prattling on about Bell, who Jenny said loud enough so that entire room to hear... Bell was now her favorite superhero!

Bell came to a sudden stop just outside the boundaries of the schools grounds. She cocked her head and her eyes glowed bright white.

"Yes, this is the spot! This will be just fine." She crouched down towards the ground and put her hands down on it. The ground in the immediate area glowed bright white as well for a while then died down and faded away. "That'll do it. Sorry Fred. I just don't want you to get hurt." She said softly to herself, apologizing to Fred quietly. She nodded to herself in satisfaction then zoomed back to the school.

She picked up Victor's scent easily and was amazed at how Brad's talent had helped her to control and learn everything so fast. She couldn't thank him enough.

"Hey Victor!" Bell said, enthusiastically. She ran up to him in an instant. He was so startled that he slammed himself into the wall.

"Don't do that! Just because you can, doesn't mean you have too!" He scolded.

"Oops, sorry Victor. Hey I need a favor." She said quickly.

"You need a favor?" Victor said slowly. "What kind of favor would you need? You got all the power anyone could ever ask for. What more would you need?" Victor said.

"You got any money?" Victor just stared at her, "I mean, cash on you?"

"Sure I always carry plenty of cash on me, why?" Victor asked cautiously.

"I need to get some stuff in town, and I don't have any." Bell said.

"I don't know if you have time to go to tow--. " He stopped himself. "What am I saying?" Victor asked himself sarcastically while his brother just laughed at him. "Oh, shut, up!" Victor reached into his pocket and pulled out a large thick wallet. He handed her a handful of very large bills. "Here ya go Babe."

"Thank you, thank you!" Bell said excitedly and jumped up and down like a delighted teenager. "I'll pay you back, I promise!"

"Hey, if you use that money to give Erick a bad time, there's no need. If you use it on yourself, there's really no need." Victor said grinning at her. He smiled even more when he noticed that her eyes were glowing from red to white in a fusion of colors. She gave him a quick hug and left in a rush of air.

Victor turned to his brother. "Ya know, I think that Erick is gonna be in trouble." Victor said, practically purring.

"Ya think!!!" Logan said cheerfully.

"Oh, yeah, I think. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy." Victor said sarcastically.

"Unless it's Senator Kelly, that is." Logan said his smile dimming a bit and his eyes burning. Victor nodded in agreement. They went back to their setting of traps and memorizing the school. "Who'd you suppose that Erick will have fighting with him on this raid?" Logan asked.

"Well, Toad for certain, he goes just about everywhere Erick does these days." Victor explained. "Then of course, the young men you've met at Jake's…and his daughter….Wanda. She will be the most trouble. She's got some pretty impressive powers herself. She hates her father with a passion, but somehow he always seems to get her to do stuff for him. Her powers are energy manipulations. She's able to change the physical make up of inanimate objects, as well as move them." Logan's eyebrow shot up. "They call her the Scarlet Witch because her obsession with that color. Pietro is the speed demon that Bell got her instant travel from, he's known as Quicksilver, he's Wanda's twin brother. Lance is called Avalanche because his affinity with the earth, he can cause localized earthquakes. And of course, Fred Dukes. I guess that's what Bell meant earlier at Jake's when she said "see ya later", to the boys before leaving."

"To bad about Fred, he seems kind of a nice guy." Logan said.

"He is, but he has terrible taste in friends. Well, I'm one to talk." Victor said angrily.

Bell came to a screeching halt near the entrance of a mall. Some one carrying packets bumped into her.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't see you." The woman said, bending over and picking up dropped parcels.

"Well, with you trying to carry out an entire store in your arms, I can see why you couldn't." Bell said giggling. Bell instantly crouched down and helped the woman pick up her scattered parcels. "Here you go; I hope you haven't broken anything." Bell said.

"No, I don't think I have, it's just clothes for the kids and me," she said. "I really want to thank you for helping me. Most people would just walk away."

"Well, I'm not like most people." Bell said, not smiling too much. She didn't want to scare the woman. "I'm new in town, where would be the best place to find woman's clothes, I have a hard time, because of my size." The woman looked at her helper for the first time and noticed that she was an extremely large woman.

"My goodness, you're a rather big girl aren't you?" The woman said kindly. "You're rather tall as well, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am. Is there a place that I can find some clothes?"

"Well, there's a Tall and Big Man Store here, I seem to have heard that they also have a woman's section as well." The woman said thinking. "Yes, it's on the lower levels near Brenda's Hair Salon." Unbeknown to the woman, Bell had seen exactly where it was in her head.

"Why thank you so much," Bell said handing her the last stray parcel.

"Thank you, my name is Vicky. If you're new in town, I can show you around. Where do you live?" Bell was at a loss for now.

"Well, actually we're staying with some friends at the moment. We're originally from New York City."

"Oh, I love New York City! I just can't get enough time off to go there anymore. Has it changed a lot?" Vicky asked.

"It's always changing." Bell smiled. She stood up with Vicky. Vicky was almost ready to drop her parcels again, this time in surprise.

"Gracious!!" Bell was at a loss to tell her anything. Then it hit her.

"It kind of runs in the family," she didn't say which one, "I just kept growing and growing, and well, this is me."

"Well, I can see why you would have trouble finding clothes. But the ones you're wearing are rather nice. They look expensive." Vicky was a keen judge of that.

"They are, a new wardrobe is being made up for me by Angela, but I'll need some to change into at any rate. She said they won't be done for three days. I don't plan to wear these for three days"

"Angela of New York? That Angela of New York!" Bell looked at Vicky; she looked like she was suffering from shock.

"Yeah, she's a friend of my….boyfriend. He woke her up to get me a new set of clothes. His…..well, now mine."

"So where are you staying?" Asked Vicky, she seemed to be coming out of her shock.

"Well, we're staying at friends at Westchester." Bell said. "I don't know for how long, actually."

"If that's the case, why don't I give you my card and you can call me when you get settled." Vicky jostled her packages around and managed to free a card from her purse.

"Thanks, and they have to nerve to say there's no such thing as hospitality anymore." Bell said smirking. Bell could read the woman's mind, and she was a genuine as she seemed.

"Yes well, its best not to always listen to what 'they' say is it." She smiled. "Well, I have to be going now. I hope to see you again and met your…boyfriend soon. Maybe you tell me a bit more about Angela." They parted company and Bell wanted to zoom to the clothing store, but decided against it. Besides she wanted to take a good look around. She was planning to live here, no matter what. It was a rather large mall, serving quite a few communities, so the stores and wares were extensive.

She was enjoying her walk thru the mall and the wonderful scents of the food stores called her. They were open and the aromas invaded the mall, that even people with normal smelling abilities were lured into them. She fought the urge to go in and buy it out and sample everything on the shelves with a hard word to herself. Some of the people heard her talking to herself.

"Hey you're not crazy if you talk to yourself, as long as you know you're the one doing the talking." Bell said to a group of young men standing around staring at her. She heard on of them say, "MUTANT!" in her brain. She gave him a hard look and said, "Who are you staring at, Bub?" She had no idea where she got that from.

"At you, mutie. I don't care much for looking at mutants, She Sassquatchie." He said spitefully and his pals snickered. Some people stopped to watch and listen.

* * *

In the security room of the mall, one of the guys monitoring the camera picked up on the potential trouble.

"Hey Max, would you look at that! Have you ever seen a woman like that before?!"

"Yeah, once a long time ago, they're kind of on the rare side. Hey isn't it that the gang we've been having trouble with all year?"

"Yeah, looks like it. It also looks like they bit off more then they could chew. You want to stop it, or just see how it plays?"

"Let's see how it plays for now. It doesn't look like she's exactly helpless." The men in the booth just laughed. "Hey see if you can get some sound on this. It looks like it's gonna be good." Max said, grinning.

* * *

"Then stop looking in the mirror, He Moron!" Bell said testily. He Moron narrowed his eyes. He didn't care for being called a moron. "Hey, if you don't like being called a moron, moron, then stop giving me a reason to." Bell sneered. She scuffed and turned around to walk away loudly complaining. "Why does every bigot on the planet sound like the fifth grade bully? Sheesh!" As she was walking the He moron pulled a large knife and charged her yelling. She avoided him swiftly and took his knife away before he knew it. She gave him a swift kick to his butt and sent him sliding on the mall floor for fifteen feet or so.

* * *

In the booth: "Outstanding. Wow, you wouldn't think a woman that large would be so fast!" There were agreements, and the men in the security booth gathered around the monitor to watch the confrontation. "I've been wanting to do that to that snotty bastard for a year. You go girl! Do it again!" They laughed and clapped and a man in a gray suit came in the door.

"Do what again?" He walked over the commotion. "What is going on? You're supposed to be watching the monitors, not the games." He said firmly.

"What were watching is better, boss. Ya know that gang that's been giving us hell for the last year or so?"

"Yeah, so."

"They've finally picked on someone that can handle themselves." Max laughed.

"Really? Are you saving it on tape?" One of the tech guys nodded.

"Yep. Watch." The butt kicked bully got up and turned around and looked at his opponent.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the gang leader, himself." The boss in gray said amused. Gang leader got to his feet quickly.

* * *

"Alright, bitch. You're in trouble now!" He said angrily. His butt hurt a lot and he was embarrassed at getting trounced in public. He looked around the floor, he couldn't find it.

"Looking for this? Ya know, you should play with sharp objects, you just might get hurt." Bell said holding up the knife. Gang leader paled. "You really shouldn't bring this knife in public places. I mean this isn't the frontier days anymore where you would need them. Hummm, this looks like a real strong, sharp, expensive knife. I really feel you have no right to carry it anymore." Bell's eyes narrowed dangerously.

* * *

"Uh, oh. What do you suppose she's going to do with that?" The boss in gray asked to the room. There were shrugs all around. "Let's not panic. We'll see what she's up to first." He went on. He looked around, no one was panicked. In fact he thought for a moment someone was going to ask for popcorn.

* * *

Bell maneuvered the knife in her fingers and with her thumb she snapped off the point, which tinkled merrily as it hit the mall floor. Gasps came from just about everywhere and everyone. She repeated the maneuvering and snapped off the next section of the blade, and the next, all the way down to the hilt. With little effort on her part, and not a sign that she was trying very hard, she crushed the hilt and dropped the shattered remains of the knife onto the mall floor with the rest of the knife parts.

"I don't like littering. But seeing how it's your knife; I feel that you should clean it up. Now, I'm leaving to go shopping, if I hear that you've bothered anyone else here, today, I don't care if it's a grandma, or a mutant that looks like a dragon….I'm going to find you and do that to your arm. And by the time it heals up good enough to use a knife on anyone again, you'll be too old to need one! GOT IT?!" She turned a stalked away. "God, I hate bullies. Why did He make so many of them, anyway?"


	17. CHAPTER 26: THE MAKINGS OF A GOLDEN LIO...

CHAPTER 26: THE MAKINGS OF A GOLDEN LIONESS

* * *

In the security booth: "Uh, sir? What do we do about the woman, besides give her wide berth?" Max said, trying to keep a straight face. The boss chuckled.

"Nothing, just go down there and see to it that he picks up his knife, what's left of it." The boss said, everyone laughed.

"Oh, let me, let me!" One of the men said enthusiastically. "Do you want me to throw them out of the mall, too? I'd like that, can I? Please….."

"George, you have been spending too much time watching your kid's videos." The boss said smiling.

"Tell me about it." George said, rolling his eyes. The room shared another laugh.

"Sure, and make sure they all leave and tell them not to come back unless they bring their mom or dad." The boss said. "I'm seriously thinking of telling our employers to put restraining orders out on these guys. I'll just mention that in the daily reports. Max get their pictures and profiles and put them together to turn in." Max nodded. "George get some back-up from those already on the floor and kick those bad boys out of the mall. You do not have to be nice." George grinned in pleasure.

"Rightcha'r boss!" He said cheerfully and tossed a jolly salute to the boss.

* * *

Bell, after feeling somewhat gratified at the end results of her confrontation with the bullies; continued on her quest. Clothes weren't the only thing she was getting, but she would get those first.

She took the escalator down to the lower level of the mall and then walked past Brenda's Hair Salon. There did not seem to be many customers at the time and it did say they took in Walk-ins. Maybe she would have time to get her hair fixed. Even though it was like Victor's, it felt dry and it needed a little conditioning; probably an after effect of the transformation; and almost dying. So she made a note to herself to come back.

It was the afternoon after school and the mall started to fill up with kids, who without fail noticed and gawked at Bell as she strode thru the mall. Her long legs ate up the ground and she was at her destination in moments. She walked into the Tall and Big Man store and looked around.

A rather tall man walked over to her.

"May I help you ma'am?" He asked politely.

"Yes, I understand you have a section for us big girls as well." Bell said smiling.

"Indeed we do. What are you looking for? The clothes you are wearing are of excellent quality." The man said calmly.

"They certainly are, but at the moment they are all the clothes I have for myself. I would like another change or two. Are you able to help me?" Bell said raising an eyebrow.

"Of course, that's why we are here. If you would come with me." He said gesturing with a flare.

"Lead on, McDuff." Bell said chuckling.

The store salesman led her to the section where the woman's clothes were kept at. Bell was surprised at the selections. She assumed that the selection would be limited. But it was not.

"Do you have many women my size around here?" Bell asked.

"Not quite your size, ma'am." He smiled attentively. "We'll see if we can improvise."

The salesman was quite helpful as Bell looked at dresses, pants, robes. She decided to try on dresses and an elegant gown. It was a bright dark gold. Just her color! It had a cape like accessory, which she loved. She was impressed despite that some of the pants were a bit short that they fit her very well.

When she made her selections, she paid for them in cash which surprised the clerk a little bit.

"We just moved here, and we haven't had time to put up a local bank account here. But I don't expect to pay for future purchases with cash." The salesman took it to mean she would be back. "Yes, I do believe that my fiancé will want to come here as well."

"He's your size?" The salesman asked.

"Bigger." Bell chuckled at the man; who was clearly startled. She had no trouble at all gathering all her boxes and packages together. She cheated a little and used some telekinetics but it didn't show.

She went to the nearest shoe store and found the men's section of the store and bought two comfortable pairs of boots. She then entered some more stores and bought personal effects. She figured that just because her body changed, it was still female. Her bags and packages were multiplying quickly. She got hungry and stopped to get something to eat and just scarfed down another large meal. She seemed to have picked up a fan club along the way; several girls had followed her from store to store. After eating she decided it was time to get her hair done. She knew exactly how much time she had until Erick and his wrecking crew would show up. She was having a good time, even by herself. Well, not quite by her lonesome. The girls were still following. She didn't mind. They were only curious about a woman that was way tall, and very pretty. She kind of liked the girls. She knew that at least one of the girls was going to become a mutant in a year.

She went into Brenda's Hair Salon and found an empty seat and placed her large pile of packages nearby. She doubted that anyone would try to pilfer any of them.

"Now, what can I do for you?" Said one of the hairdressers, coming over to her.

"I would like for you to condition my hair and give me a little trim, especially around my face." Bell explained.

"Of course, it shouldn't take too long if that's all you want done with your hair. Want me to wash it first? Do you want any kind of special shampoo, conditioner?"

"Whatever you think would be best for my hair, will be fine. Something that smells nice would be a must." Bell said smiling. She sat down at the empty station that the hairdresser indicated.

"Of course, a must." The woman picked up a brush and pulled it thru Bell's long hair. She felt it and looked at her intensely. Bell knew she wasn't trying to be intimidating, she was figuring what to style her hair, with her kind of face.

Bell was pleased with the results of her hair. Her hairdresser even managed to make it curly and wavy and it had a wonderful effect on her mood. She decided to get her nails done too.

"I would like my nails, ummm, this color!" She said as she got one of the boxes that had that flowing gown that she just purchased in it. She opened the box and the dresser ohed over it.

"Wow. I think that's gold, and we have that in several shades. Let's see if we can match it with that beautiful gown. A special occasion?" The woman asked.

"Yeah, my fiancé and I are taking on the bad guys." Bells eyes twinkled.

"By all means then, you must get your nails done." The hairdresser agreed. "Nancy is our manicurist. She'll take care of you. Hey, Nancy, get your gold nail polish together this lady is taking on the bad guys."

"Like what is she, a Power Ranger, or something?" Nancy asked.

"Something like that." Bell giggled. She held up her gown. "This is the color I want the polish to be, or as close as you can get it."

"OOOOh, nice. I'll see what I can do. Come on over to my table and have a seat and we'll get started." Bell put her gown away and put it with the rest of her packages and went over to Nancy. She sat down and held out her hands.

"Wow, nice nails. Doesn't look like I have to do much to them." Nancy said.

"Just a wash and polishing wax please." Bell joked and Nancy snickered. Nancy was good at what she did and her mind was on her impending date of that night. Bell was pleased to note that she didn't seem to frighten of her and her size. Nancy was somewhat laid back. The television was playing Oprah Winfield in the background. What she was doing she didn't know right off, she was too relaxed to even care. She looked up and saw that she was talking to Orlando Bloom; he was going on about his new movie. Nancy was thinking she wished that her boyfriend looked like him.

The gold polish was the quick drying kind and with a few coats Bell had matching nails to go with her gown. She grinned; it was going to be a fun filled night. She held out her hands to look at her nails.

"Very nice Nancy, you do good work. It'll go nicely with the make-up I got." Nancy nodded.

"You're wearing that wonderful gown tonight, aren't you?" Nancy smiled.

"Uh huh. It's gonna be a night to remember." Her eyes almost glowed white, but not quite, she was getting pretty good in controlling her powers. As far as Nancy was concerned Bell was larger then usual, but not strangely so.

After giving Nancy a good tip and paying for her hairdo and nails, Bell gathered her packages to head for home.

After reaching a respectable distance from the mall with no witnesses about; she gathered up her packages in a levitating bundle and with a laugh; she streaked down the highway back towards the school. She was going so fast no one could have seen the strange woman and her tagalong bundle. She contacted Xavier and asked where she was going to be staying. He gave her directions and with hardly any time passing, she was there.

She checked the room and started putting her things away. She hung up her gown giving it a chance to lose its wrinkles. She looked at herself in the mirror. She was definitely going to have to fix her make-up. She figured that getting one of the teenage girls to help her with it.

Bell laughed and chortled with glee. Everything was going to be all right, if the events followed her foresight. She was getting a bit tired and she thought a quick catnap would be just what she needed. With her new found powers, she gave herself a self induced wakeup call.

A half hour later, Victor came into the room that had been assigned to him and found Bell curled up in a catlike ball asleep. He sighed, now that looked tempting. But six o'clock was coming up fast and if he fell asleep now, he'd be out for hours. Victor noticed all the boxes and bags strewed all over the room. So Bell had been spending his money pretty good. He noticed the names of the stores on the bags and boxes. Oh, good they have a Tall and Big Man store in the area. He noticed a pleasant scent coming off of Bell. She had her hair done. She sat up almost instantly, and it startled him.

"I'm sorry; did I wake you, Babe?" Victor apologized.

"No, I had set myself a timer in my head, and I woke myself. Hey, did you and your brother get those booby traps set up?" She grinned, she knew he had.

"Yep. If they try to go to certain areas of the school, they will be surprised. We made sure that they are not too aggressive. This is after all a school." He paused. "Raven says that Marie is really nervous about all of this. She still feels it's her fault." He sighed. "I wish she didn't feel that way. Erick certainly has a lot to answer for."

"Don't worry, Victor. Everything will turn out all right. Just stay away from him if you can. Leave that bitter old goat to me, Okay? I got something special in mind for him. Just you wait. Maybe he can be rehabilitated. Going to try my best, and my best now, is very good." Bell's eyes glowed white. She quickly got off the bed and started grabbing some of her new stuff. "You better get your work clothes from the trunk of the monster. Things are gonna get messy tonight. I'm going to visit some girls about a new look for me. What do you think my codename should be? Copycat? Duplicat? Duplicator? Power PAC? Quick, pick one! What do you think?" Victor just looked at her and grinned.

"Well, with your enhanced powers I'm sure any one of those would be good for you. It's a tough decision and maybe we should both think about it." She smiled at him. She already knew which one she would go with, but if he wanted to think and talk it over, she was all for that.

"So, when are we getting married?" Bell asked, out of the blue. It almost floored him. He was only thinking quietly about that.

"Well, officially, I'm still married to Raven. How about we wait until its official and discuss it after the raid tonight." Victor said smiling meekly.

"Sounds like a date. We'll talk it over meat lover's pizza," Bell snickered. "After that, it's Graydon's speech…. of course." Bell smiled. She walked out of the room and in passing Victor she gave him a gentle pat on the face.

"Hey James, how's it going?" She said when entering the hallway.

"Pretty good, Bell….And with yourself?"

"Great! I'm just going to visit some of the girls. I'm getting ready for tonight festivities. See ya later." Bell said cheerfully. Logan watched her walk down the hall to where the girls' dorm was located. He walked into the room where he knew Vic to be. He was kind of surprised at Vic's demeanor. He looked kind of shell-shocked.

"Hey Vic, are you alright?" Logan asked his big brother.

"No, actually I'm not. I think I'm in a lot of trouble." Vic said carefully.

"What kind of trouble?" Logan asked, but he did have somewhat of an idea.

"Woman kind of trouble, I think I bit off more then I can chew." Vic said.

"You're not the only one, bro." Logan said with a grimace.

"The beautiful Weather Witch I take it… has stolen your heart." Vic said.

"How did you know?"

"It was kind of obvious. I think she likes you too. You need to take your time though, but with Bell, I think it was almost instantaneous; even before her change." He sighed. "I'm doomed." Victor moaned. "Simply…. doomed."

"Me too, big brother, me too." And they both grinned.

"I need to get some stuff out of the car, I'll be back shortly." Vic announced.

"Alright, I'll check on Marie and see how she's doing." Logan said.

"Hey, if that Cajun makes any moves on her that isn't prudent, will you put him in his place?" Vic asked.

"It would be my pleasure. But I think she's safe from Remy's attention for a while, or at least until he figures out how to get around her skin." Logan grinned.

"Yeah, poor kid, what a lousy mutation. I hope she learns how to control it. Well, it won't matter to me. I intend to protect her until death…if need be."

"Me too. I liked her immediately. She's something special alright. It's a real pity that you didn't get a chance to raise her yourself. She turned out very nice though." Logan said smiling.

"Yeah, she sure did, James. So how did you meet her anyway? I never did bother to ask."

"Well, I found her in a bar in Laughlin City after one of my fights. I actually smelled her before I saw her up close. She kind of took my breath away before I even knew she was related to me." Logan said softly. I guess her resemblance to Mother had something to do with it. It's not as strong as with Jeanne and Rose's but it's strong nonetheless." Logan said.

"Yeah, I kind of noticed that the good doctor looks a lot like Rose. She even smells like her. Have you told her yet?"

"No, not really, I don't want to scare her too much." Both brothers chuckled.

"You know, Bell. We are real pleased that you like want our help." Jubilee went on. "That's really a nice gown. And one of my favorite colors too." She smiled at Bell.

"I should have spent more time with my teenage friends then studying, but I was somewhat of a bookworm growing up. The accident changed me pretty good. I lost an awful lot of knowledge and memory from the damaged done to me by that accident." Bell sighed.

"Hey, Kelly will get _his_ someday, you'll see!" Kitty said, sneering a little. The girls of the dorm all agreed. They had gathered in Kitty's room to hover over Bell and her make-up project. They all agreed that Bell's hair didn't need tampering with, but her make-up needed something.

After about 15 minutes of maneuvering and brushing and rubbing, Bell was finished. "Very nice, Bell." Jubilee said, and the other girls chimed in with their affirmatives.

"If you will give me a few minutes in the bathroom, I'll finish up with my special look." Bell picked up her gown and her new boots and left to go into the girls bathroom. The girls giggled and talked and compared notes on Bell's new appearance.

Bell came back into the room and the girls stopped their talking. They looked at her with eyes wide and mouths agape. Bell was golden colored from head to toe. The gown had a beautiful thirties flowing look with a sheer layer of cloth from shoulders to floor. Her boots were also a bright gold color and peeked from under the hem slightly. It almost looked as if she had been drenched in golden light.

"Well, I'm all set to go to war with the Brotherhood. What do ya think?" She could hear what they thought, and she was pleased at their reactions. Kitty thought that Bell looked like a giant version of Galadriel. Jubilee was thinking that Bell had been dipped in gold and polished and lighted carefully by an artist. They both thought that this outfit was a little odd for wearing to a war. "But since most of them were males, it just might do the trick." Everyone gasped. "Ooops, did I say that out loud?" Asked Jubilee. "Sorry Bell, I mean ...I didn't mean to say…." Bell laughed.

"That's okay, Jubilee. You're right; I want the males of the Brotherhood distracted. Do you think this will do it?"

"Hell, if Sabretooth himself…. would see you like that…. he'd probably faint dead away." Kitty said.

"That's an interesting image." Bell said, smiling broadly. "Oh, Victor…!" Bell said walking out of the room. The girls, curious, followed her. Victor had heard her call for him and he walked down the hall. He stopped dead in his tracks. Bell had come to a window and the fading light of the sun had caught her just right.

"The girls say that if Sabretooth saw me, that he himself would faint dead away. Well, would you agree with that?" Victor's mouth dropped open and his breath came in short bursts; his throat tightened up uncomfortably. He swallowed convulsively.

"Oh, god!" Victor had a hard time speaking. It had come out almost a squeak. Logan dashed around the corner when he thought he smelled and heard Vic in trouble. He wasn't too far off the mark. He came to a screeching halt himself when he saw Bell.

"Oh, god!" Logan said almost in a whisper.

"Girls, I think it is safe to assume that my war outfit is ready for duty." Bell grinned. The girls tittered gaily.


	18. CHAPTER 27: NIGHT RAIDS & PIZZA PIES

Summary: Magneto couldn't get his hands on the Senator so he got another subject. He got more then even he wanted or ever handle.

Okay folks, we're getting towards the end of the story. Just a little bit more.

Reviews: Sure go ahead!

Genre: General/Romance/Humor

Rating: PG13 for language

CHAPTER 27: NIGHT RAIDS & PIZZA PIES

The Walker brothers were stopped dead in their tracks as they gaped at the woman standing in front of them.

"Stop starin' at my fiancé, James." Victor said after getting his voice back.

"Okay." Logan said weakly and kept on staring. "God, she just takes the breath away." The girls giggled.

"Mission accomplished, Bell. It seems to be working on the male members of the mutant species. Ya know, I think it would like work on the regular male of the human species too." Jubilee said. "I know, lets see if it does the same thing to the younger male members. I'll go get Bobby, and Peter and see if it works on them too." Jubilee trotted off to get said young males.

"Do you think that Sabretooth would faint dead away if he saw me, Victor?" Bell cooed as she walked slowly over to Victor. She stopped only inches away from him and he rumbled deeply, Kitty heard that and was somewhat confused. It sounded just like a lion talking to a female of his kind. Bell answered back making the same sound.

"Like when did it become the Discovery Channel around here?" Kitty said to no one in particular. She looked at the brothers they were engrossed with Bell. She knew that Bell was very attractive, but she didn't know that Bell was that attractive. Maybe you had to be a male to see it. Obviously that those two males did see it, Kitty mused. Jubilee came back with both Bobby and John in tow. The boys came to a sudden stop when they saw Bell.

"Woah!" Said John quietly.

"Oh my god!" Whispered Bobby. Bell's rumbling became somewhat audible and both of the young males found that they could feel the vibrations as well.

"I'd say the experiment was like a rousing success. Jubilee said cheerfully.

"Like totally!" Kitty giggled and agreed. "I see that you couldn't find Peter." Kitty said.

"He was like totally helping one of the younger boys with his homework." Jubilee said, shrugging.

"Yeah, I bet it would just kill Peter to look at Bell. You know how shy he is." Kitty said grinning. It was becoming evident that the Walkers and John and Bobby had forgotten everything except Bell.

Bell herself seemed to be engulfed in Victor's eyes. It was a rather startling sight to see. Jubilee and Kitty hadn't seen anything like it…..ever.

"Yeah, I think that Sabretooth would like faint dead away, or at least he'd be doin' what that Victor dude like is doin'. Kitty said, and Jubilee nodded in agreement. "Yo, Bobby, like clean up the drool." Kitty said snickering. Bobby turned to Kitty and gaped.

"Huh?" He said somewhat unintelligently. The girls merely laughed at him. John wasn't in any better shape then his friend.

"Yep, the outfit is a total success, Bell. They're like incapacitated, like really well." Jubilee said.

"Just as I had planned," cooed Bell, rumbling like a lioness to Victor. Victor couldn't move, nor could Logan. Their eyes were both glued to the golden woman. Bell purred into Victor's ear. "Victor, babe, I need you to snap out of it and go to the roof. Erick and his companions are almost here."

"What did you say?" Victor almost gasped the words.

"The roof, dear, you need to get to the roof to greet Mortimer." Bell said smiling. On hearing Toad's real name he came out of it.

"Oh, right…the roof. I'll just greet Mort on the roof then." Victor pried himself away from her. It wasn't easy, but he needed to be ready for them. He owed Erick soooo much. He particularly roared in anger. "I'm on my way!" Then quietly he said. "And you look, delish." Victor said smiling. He leaned forward and rumbled in her ear. "_Good enough to eat!"_ He said only loud enough for those with enhanced hearing to make out. Bell actually blushed.

Logan snapped out of it and chuckled heartily, "And as for you, bub!" Bell said turning to Logan. "You get to go down stairs and check on Rogue and Remy." The Walker brothers left to go their separate ways; Victor to the roof and Logan to the basement.

Bell clapped her hands together sharply. That got the attention of the two young males. "Bobby, John, I need you to go to the boys dorm and look out for the younger boys. Jubes, you and Kitty you look after the girls. Listen, Erick going to send in a very speedy guy and all I want you to do is act normal. You know read, talk and do what you normally do. If you hear or see anything out of the ordinary…." Bell rolled her eyes. Here, anything out of the ordinary…. is saying a lot. The girls snickered. They thought the same thing. "Just stay put for now, and if I need you…I'll just give you a head buzz." Bell grinned.

"_Alright everyone, places all…company is comin'!"_ Everyone heard in their heads as Bell alerted everyone to the 'guests' arrival.

JUST OUTSIDE OF THE SCHOOL'S BOUNDARIES:

A rather large group was standing around awaiting orders from their leader. He was an older regal looking fellow wearing dark clothes and a cape and a funny looking helmet. He turned to the silver haired young man and said, "Pietro, I want you to take a run inside the mansion. Do not let yourself be seen. Don't alert them to your presence and report back here on what they are doing and where they are." He said, looking sternly at him.

"Sure thing pops." Pietro said and dashed off.

"And don't call me pops." He said to the empty air irritably. A young woman dressed in scarlet snickered. He turned to glare at her. She ignored the stare and smiled sweetly at him. He knew that to be a false smile. Toad sighed and rolled his eyes at the byplay. This was getting on his nerves. They've been going at it with each other for hours now. And he was getting really tired of it.

Pietro was dashing threw the mansion like a fast breeze. No one noticed him at all. The only thing that Pietro could tell is that the mansion was quiet. Most everyone was either in their rooms or the TV room watching TV reading and talking. He caught the conversation of two of the children talking about what they wanted on their pizzas, but nothing out of the ordinary. The teachers were grading papers. Nothing, dullsville, he thought. He raced back to the group to report to his father.

"Hey, pops. Nothing is going on at the school. Everything is so boringly quiet and still. Nothing out of the ordinary at all, that's my report." Pietro said quickly.

"Don't call me pops." Erick said sternly. Pietro just ignore him.

"Sure thing pops." Pietro quipped. Erick just sighed. It was a losing battle with someone who lives at the speed that Pietro does.

"Toad, enter the mansion by the roof; see if you can find the girl." Erick instructed.

"I don't know what see looks like, Erick." Toad said.

"That's easy; she's the one with the southern accent." Erick grinned.

"So I got to hang around and wait for all the older girls at the school start to talk." Toad said irritably.

"When do you have to wait to hear teenage girls talk? They talk all the time." Lance said with some rancor. "Talk, talk, talk. Ya just can't get them to shut up. I know, I've tried." Lance gripped.

The group shared a derisive laugh. Toad gave a mighty sigh and hopped away to the mansion to his goal, the roof.

"Alright everyone let's go and try not to alert them to our presence before we've had a chance to get there. They strode off, all but Fred. Lance noticed that Fred wasn't following them.

"Hey big guy, you gonna stand there all night, come on!" Lance called to Fred.

"I can't move my feet. They are stuck to the ground." Fred said. It looked as if he was straining hard to lift his feet, but he wasn't moving them. The group turned and walked back to where Fred was standing.

"You joking, you can't move your feet, really?" Lance said.

"Bummer." Pietro simply said.

"Avalanche moved the ground so Fred can move his feet." Magneto said.

"Sure thing, boss." Lance looked as if he was getting a headache as he stretched out his arm and spread his fingers. Before he knew it; he was sprawled out on the ground. "What?!!" Lance said intelligently.

"Good question, Lance. What is going on?" Magneto asked. He knew that none of the present company could answer that question. Lance crawled over to the ground in front of Fred and placed his hand on the grass. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the spot under his hand. A bolt of electricity shot up out of the ground and zapped him and he went flying and landed on his backside, hard…..again.

"AUGGHHH!!! That hurt!" Lance exclaimed. Some of the electricity still crackled and hissed on his hand as he shook it off. "Man, it's like a trap especially made that I can't open! Sorry Fred." Lance said.

"So much for them not knowing that we're coming, huh?" Pietro said with some sarcasm.

"Charles," Magneto said with venom. "I suppose stealth is no longer required; they know we are here." He turned to look at Fred. "You'll have to wait here, I'll see to it that you're freed by the on who trapped you that. We'll be back shortly." With that, he gathered up his forces in his magnetic field and levitated them towards the mansion.

Erick stopped just outside the mansion and lowered the group to the ground and turned off his field. Wanda caused the doors to open and everyone dashed inside expecting to be met by an opposing force. There was no one waiting for them. It was deadly quiet.

"I don't like this," said Lance in a sing-song voice.

"Be silent! I need to think! What are you up to Charles?" He scanned the room. He couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. No one to greet them, where was Toad, he should have gotten inside by now? He did not like this, Lance was right…something was not right about all of this.

MEANWHILE ON THE ROOF:

Toad went crashing into the chimney on the roof. "Bloody hell! Why did you go and do that for, Vic mate?" Toad said after shaking his head and looking up at Victor.

"One: you weren't paying attention to your environment. And two: I wanted too." Victor chuckled.

"Crickey! Its beat the hell out of Toad month is it? Mags think you're selling him out. When did you get here, huh? About time you joined the group. How did you know we were gonna be here, anyway?"

"One: Its always beat the hell out of Toad month. Two: I am. Three: I got here early this afternoon. Three: I am quitting the group. Four: This is where the girl is." Vic answered Toad's questions in order. Toad's mouth was agape. Vic merely smiled at him.

"Mags is gonna turn you into a bleedin' pretzel." Toad said. But Toad was surprised that Victor only grinned at him.

"He can try." Victor simply said. Toad began to suspect that something was up. Toad had to get to Mags and warn him, but first he had to get by Sabretooth. Even Toad would have a problem with that. He saw that Vic's eyes narrowed. Uh oh, he caught that scent. Toad tried to get by him, but Vic headed him off and sent him flying again. Vic was on him before he could take another breath. For a large guy he was as quick as a pouncing cat on a mouse.

"Let's talk it out before you do anything else, alright?" Vic said getting into Toad face. "Listen Mortimer, there's more to this then you have been told by Erick. Ya willing to listen or ya want me to send you back to the island base without a chopper?" Toad gulped. He nodded vigorously. Listening to Vic talk to him instead of beating the shit out of him was a no-brainer.

Victor indicated that Toad should take a seat. Toad sat down, minding his thoughts, he knew that Vic could sense in change in his scent…so he watched what he was thinking.

Mortimer, we've been had. Erick has lied and betrayed us all." Mortimer's eyes widen. He never expected Vic to say something like that. "He lied about the girl, at any rate." Vic took a deep breath. "He sent me after her, knowing, knowing that he was sending me after my own daughter." Toad's mouth dropped open.

"Bloody hell, I didn't know you even had a daughter!" Toad exclaimed.

"Neither did I." Victor said sadly. Toad's green face paled to the color of sea foam green. Toad instantly knew what the problem was. Vic was one of the best henchmen in the world, but he would never have allowed family to get caught up in any of his activities.

"I didn't know, mate." Toad gasped fearfully.

"Yeah, I know you didn't…that's why you've not been gutted." Victor grinned. "Look, you've got three options. One: You leave. Two: You wait here on the roof until it's all over and have pizza with us, or Three: You try to warn Erick that I know what he did to me, and I kill ya. It's your choice, Mortimer. Make it a good one; it's your life, not his." Mortimer just stared at him for a while. A moth, attracted by the light on the roof came fluttering by and Mortimer's tongue snapped it up in a heartbeat.

"So, you want caterpillars on your pizza or what?" Victor grinned at him.

"You're not gonna be able to defeat Mags, your skeleton is metal ya know, and he's the way he is." Toad said.

"I'm not worried. I have a very powerful card up my sleeve." Toad thought, it must be for Vic not to be the least concerned. Vic walked away. "A very powerful card indeed." Toad watched Vic walk away and he sat there waiting.

INSIDE THE MANSION:

Magneto sent the boys looking for the girl, and he sent Wanda to where he knew the girls' dorm was. She rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. She was going to get her father for this, one of these days. Magneto went thru the first floor of the mansion searching the place, himself. There wasn't any one waiting for him. Suddenly he felt the sing of a special metal speak to him. Adamantium! Sabretooth was here! Magneto narrowed his eyes in anger. Something had kept Victor from following his orders, and he was going to find out what. He found the Adamantium, but it wasn't Sabretooth.

"Well, if it isn't little Erick Magnus Lehnsherr. Long time no see." Logan said smiling.

"Major Walker. What are you doing here?" Magneto asked.

"Visiting some relatives; and yourself?" Logan said grinning and raising an eyebrow. He looked at Magneto's face and he stopped smiling. "You can't have her, Erick. Leave now, while you still have a chance."

"I see Stryker had enough Adamantium for two." Magneto said conversationally.

LOWER LEVELS OF THE MANSION:

Pietro streaked thru the mansion without a care… nobody could see him or stop him. He reached the lower levels. He was certain if the girl was here, she'd be hidden away in one of the many rooms. He was about to enter one of them when he ran into a wall that was not there before. He hit the floor hard and was out for the count. Actually he didn't hit a wall, but Bell. She had placed herself in between the room Pietro even faster then he could move, so he didn't see her. She crouched down and put her hands over him and a blur of color escaped him and entered her hands. She chuckled and went upstairs, knowing that Magneto had sought out the Adamantium skeletons of one of the Walker brothers. Of course… she knew by the time she got there, Magneto would have both brothers pinned to the wall like refrigerator magnets.

Sure enough she had been right; they were both hanging on the walls like paintings. When she walked quietly up behind, she saw Erick straighten up. He had felt her coming.

"Another one?" Magneto said with surprise. He turned around to face the other source of Adamantium and was stunned. It was a very tall woman dressed all in gold. She glowed with a bright light; the air circulated around her in a breeze playing with her robe and hair. He noticed that her eyes glowed bright red and she had a smile on her face that frightened him. Erick was a bit stunned at her appearance.

"Well, it seems that I'll have a nice collection." He said, starting to recover from his surprise. He stretched out a hand and lifted her up off the floor. She hovered for a little bit and a bright white light flashed about her body. She lowered herself slowly, gracefully back onto the floor. She nodded to Vic and Logan and they too glowed white and they dropped to the floor.

"Now boys, did I not tell you that I would handle Erick." She said sternly to the Walkers.

"Yeah, you did, but he found us first." Logan said, somewhat chastened.

"I guess Erick couldn't ignore the sing of the Adamantium could he." The woman said. She cocked her head at Erick. Erick was confused. Why she was not pinned to the wall like Sabretooth and Major Walker? How was she able to break his connection to the metal on her bones? How was she able to get them down from the wall? Who was she?

"Who are you?" Erick asked quietly.

"Oh, I'm sorry. We were never really formally introduced. We have met though." She said purring. Wanda picked just then to join in the fun.

"I need a map to find my way around this place." Wanda pouted and lamented. "I couldn't find anything, or anyone of your description." She stopped and stared at the group.

"Attack her!" Erick said pointing at the gold woman. Wanda only blinked at her father.

"You're kidding. Why would you want me to attack her? She's not doing anything." Wanda yawned. She was bored and tired and really wanted no part of this project of her father's.

"Do it!" He ordered.

"No. Do it yourself." She huffed.

"She's ruining everything!" Erick shouted.

"Good for her." Wanda said and applauded her quietly. Erick's face turned the color of Wanda's overcoat. Scarlet!

"Fine! I'll do it myself!" He concentrated very hard and suddenly found himself flung against the wall. He slid down the wall and ended up sitting on the floor looking up at the gold woman. The look on his face was precious, and it delighted his daughter no end.

"Wow! Did you do that to my father?!" Wanda said, turning to the tall woman.

"No, actually he did that to himself." She told Wanda, who laughed delighted.

"Outstanding!" She exclaimed and clapped long and hard. Her father had such a look of surprise on his face it was thrilling. Finally he had met his match. Wanda was tickled, and she was no longer bored. "So, how did, daddy dearest do that to himself?" She asked gleefully. She was curious.

"Well, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." The woman smiled. "Opposite poles attract and same poles repel…. simple science." The woman gold explained.

"You beat daddy with simple science? How cool is that?!" She threw back her head and laughed and laughed. "So how did you, really defeat him?"

"You know that old song…Anything you can do; I can do better than you?" The woman asked.

"Yeah, I do." Wanda said. It only took a moment more for Wanda to get the implications.

"Believe it or not, I owe it all to him." The woman in gold said, pointing at Erick. Wanda looked at her father. He looked at her a bit confused. He had no idea what she was talking about. "I did say we hadn't been formally introduced." She shifted into Erick. "Your people are afraid of my kind." Then she shifted again into another woman. "If you mean, mad scientist. Hey, you get my vote for being scary." She glared at Erick and walked over to him changing back into her tall golden self. She crouched down beside him and held out her hands like she did over Pietro. Erick gasped and groaned. His eyes filled with fear and pain.

"Wha-wha-what did you do to me???!!!" Erick gasped painfully.

"You turned me into a mutant….I just returned the favor….you're a regular human with no special powers at all. I took them from you." The fear and pain in his eyes were tremendous. "Tit for tat, if you must know." She said firmly. Erick stretched out his arm and looked like he was trying hard. "The only way you can move metal, even a paperclip, is picking it up with your hand." She gave him a very hard look. "And I am not giving you your powers back until you get some therapy. You got some serious anger issues."

"Oh, I haven't introduced myself to you yet. My name is Belinda James….Bell to my friends." She turned to Wanda. "So are you staying for pizza….and if you're waiting for Lance, Erick he's a bit up in the air." She chuckled. "Pietro is taking a nap downstairs. He hit a hard object going too fast. He and Lance too will be normal humans for a while."

"Are you going to take my powers from me, too?" Wanda asked.

"No, do I have too?" Bell asked Wanda.

"No, and I really would like some pizza. I'm starved." Wanda said.

"Well, the pizza should be here shortly. Hey, James, you need to go downstairs and get Marie and her friend…and see if Pietro is awake yet. If he is having trouble waking, you might want have Jean look at him." Bell said.

"Sure, no problem Bell. Hey Vic, you want come down with me?" He asked Victor. Victor was glaring at Erick, growling.

"I know what you did to me and my family….your ass is mine." Victor growl and advanced on Erick.

"Victor, dear, don't." Bell said quietly.

"But he…!" Victor growled loudly.

"Yes, I know….but you don't need to punish him….I did that already." Bell smiled at Victor and he found himself calming down. She was right of course; losing his power was a harsh punishment indeed. "Well, I'll be going. I have to tell Mortimer that the excitement is over and get Fred. Ta!" Bell said, lifting off the floor and she flew out the window.

"You know for someone who was afraid to fly, she doesn't seem to have any trouble now." Victor said smiling. Just then Professor Xavier came rolling down the hallway.

"We'll just leave Erick in your care then Wheels." Said Logan as the professor came to a stop in front of the; then he and Victor left to go get Marie and Remy and check on Pietro.

"Erick. You know, most of movies that consist of plots of mad scientists… find that their creations tend to turn against their creators. It appears that you are no exception." Professor Xavier said almost kindly to Erick. Erick heaved a huge sigh, slumped to the floor into a tight ball and began to sob. Wanda left the two old friends to themselves.

ON THE ROOF:

Toad sat and listened. He didn't hear the sounds of fighting, breaking, or whole scale chaos. It was almost too quiet. A bright light advanced on him and he was ready to fight or flee. He looked at the light. It was a very tall woman dressed all in gold and she hovered a bit before landing on the roof in front of him.

"Bloody hell!" Toad was at a lost for more words as he gaped at the woman.

"Hello Mortimer. Are you ready for some pizza? The whole school is having a pizza party, and if you behave yourself, you're invited." She said in a lilting and sexy voice. Toad thought back to what Vic had told him about the powerful card up his sleeve. It would not surprise him if she was that powerful card. A golden queen card! She smiled at him. "The good guys won. Your team lost. But we'll be good winners by asking you to join us in our victory party."

"Who the hell are you?!" Toad asked.

"Me? Why I'm a Yankee bird with no couth." She said smiling. Toad's mouth dropped open.

"You?! You're supposed to be dead!!!" Toad exclaimed, shocked.

"Yeah, I know. I got better." She laughed. "Look, just go inside, I have to get Fred, poor guy, I really don't want him to miss all the fun. See ya, Mortimer!" She said flying off towards the wooded area.

"Blimey!" Toad gasped. He climbed down the roof and clambered down the side of the mansion and entered it thru one of the doors. His mind was racing, if that woman is a sample of what the machine does, maybe it's not such a good idea to use it anymore.

Bell flew to the spot where she had trapped Fred. He was still there standing patiently. She landed out of his sight and decided it would be best just to walk up to him.

"Hello Fred." Bell said walking up to the large young man. He stared at her unabashedly with mouth open

"Uh, hi Bell, what are you don't here?" Fred asked softly. _'Wow does she look beautiful!'_ Bell heard him exclaim in his head.

"I'm here to get you out of the trap." Bell said smiling.

"You are?! What happened? Did I miss all the excitement?" Fred asked.

"Yes, I'm afraid you did. The excitement is quite over, and I'm afraid, you side lost. Sorry."

"Oh." Fred was at a loss for words.

"But hey, it's not the end of the world!" Bell grinned. "There's going to be pizza and sodas and other stuff. Want to join in the party?" Bell asked nicely.

"Yeah, I'd like that. So how come you're going to get me out of the trap?" Fred asked.

"I'm sorry Fred; I'm the one that set it for you." Fred's mouth dropped open a little more._ 'I though she liked me."_ Fred thought. Well, Bell didn't want him to think that she didn't so she started to explain.

"I didn't want for you to get hurt. I knew that you might if you came inside. So I made sure that you didn't." Bell said patting his arm gently. A sudden burst of recognition of her words sparked inside him. She was protecting him from getting hurt! She smiled at him and he grinned back. She held out a hand and the ground glowed white and then faded back to being just the ground again.

"It's alright now Fred. You can move your feet again. You're free." Bell said. He took her for her word and picked up his feet one by one and they no longer were stuck to the ground. He beamed at her.

"Uh, hey thanks." Fred said chuckling.

"So you want to come to the school and share some pizza with us. Listen, Lance turned over some stuff when he did his localized earthshakes, you wouldn't mind helping picking up stuff, would you, until they arrive?"

"For pizza, I'd move the whole school for ya." Fred said smiling broadly.

"Well, that won't be necessary Fred, but thanks. Come on, let's go." They headed towards the school. Fred wasn't such a bad guy. He really needed to hang around a better class of people. Bell smiled, if any indication of the future, she personally will see to it that he does. She slowly walked her old friend back to the school.


	19. THE FAMILY: EPILOG

THE FAMILY: EPILOG

The school was bustling with activity. It was obvious that there was a victory that night and everyone was in a good mood. Bell had introduced Fred to Peter and the two gentle, shy giants seem to hit it off as they cleaned up the mess that Lance made.

Bell had changed her clothes and now she looked like a teenager herself, only an extra, extra large teenage girl. Her t-shirt had a picture of a golden dragon on it that was breathing red fire and showed off her new well endowed chest nicely. Her new jeans were bright blue and she had her hair up in a high riding pony tail. Since she had forgotten to get sneakers she decided to go barefoot.

The bell rang and both Bell and Victor raced for the door to answer it. Jerry the delivery boy had been delivering pizza to the school for sometime now and was hardly surprised by anything. But when the door opened and two huge blonde people answered he had to take a step back just to look them in the face. He wondered if they were related. They acted like it. Because it was such a large order, he had help bringing it. His partner was a new guy and stared at both the building and it's occupants without any shame, he was too surprised for that.

Bell surveyed the room and took somewhat of a light tally of what was going on. Lance and Pietro were trying to make passes at the girls, who saw right thru them. Fred and Peter were getting along very nicely still and Remy and Marie looked as if they were joined at the hip.

Raven was sitting on a couch with a man who had arrived after all the fuss was over, he had very short blonde hair and he was wearing an earring. A little girl was leaning over the couch listening in on Raven and her male friend's conversation. He was introduced as Stanley and his young daughter Holly. He taught computer classes here at the school. She wasn't a mutant, or at least hadn't been tested yet. But she seemed to get along with every other student there.

James was making conversation with Ororo and he was trying to get a bite or two of Ororo's vegetarian pizza. Wanda had made herself at home with the teenage girls and they were giggling and talking up and storm. She noticed that Pietro whispered something in one of the girl's ears. Uh, oh, that's gonna get him into trouble. It did, the girl smacked Pietro in the back of his head, and he exclaimed, "Hey!" His sister nearly choked on her soda as it threatened to come out of her nose and everyone shared a laugh at her expense.

Toad also was enjoying some pizza and trying not to be too disgusting about it. Jenny watched in fascination as he held the melted cheese over his mouth and lowered it and rolled it around his very long tongue.

Jean and Scott were feeding each other bites of melted cheese and giggling. Professor Xavier was sitting next to Erick who had taken to sulking in a lazy-boy chair. He had gotten out of his dark outfit and taken off his helmet. He really didn't need it anymore.

It was hard on someone with enhanced senses, but it was uplifting too. There was a feeling of hopefulness in the air. Bell sat next to Victor who had been gleefully devouring pizza piece after pizza piece since opening the box. He stole looks at Marie and Raven and her new beau in turns. Bell wasn't jealous because he was only wondering if the man that she had chosen was making her happy, and it seems that he was.

The party continued on and there was a burping contest among the younger students. The results sent the group of kids in a fit of joyous laughter and the older kids just grinned. So far, her little friend Jenny by far had best burps.

After awhile when everyone had gotten full on pizza and sodas and whatever the energy was dying down as stomachs became full and appetites appeased. It was time for the broadcast of the summit conference on one of the cable channels and the room started getting quiet.

The pomp of the ceremonies were at best boring and at the worst dull. But everyone was waiting for the section of the ceremonies that was applied especially for them.

When Graydon Creed Walker was introduced the room became very quiet and everyone listened as he wove words like a tapestry. When he closed his speech the world leaders gave him a standing ovation. Raven and Victor jumped up and gave each other a hug, my, were they proud of their son. It even perked up Erick who then grumbled that they were pretty words, but it wasn't enough. Charles sighed, and looked at Erick sadly.

The younger children were sent off to get ready to bed while the older students still chatted with each other about what the speech meant to them. A few hours later after the last student went to bed. The teachers quietly got together along with some of the newcomers and began cleaning up.

Erick was given his old room and the rest of his crew got beds in the guest rooms, Wanda put on her coat and left to go back to her apartment.

After the room was cleaned and the trash thrown away, Bell scanned the room it was empty, free of students, teachers…it still look lived in and homey. She smiled, yeah; she was going to like it here. She turned off the light and went upstairs to her room. She was home.


	20. DEAR DIARY

Dear Diary,

Well, it's been almost four years since the fateful day when Sabretooth threw me over his shoulder and Magneto turned me into the most powerful mutant on the planet. A lot has happened since then.

Graydon's speech of that night of the summit was given a standing ovation from the world leaders. It was a big hit with his mother and father too. They were pleased and proud. The students were kind of startled by the fact that they actually like a speech. It had been taped for posterity.

Erick went thru 9 months of therapy and I was delighted to give him pack his powers. Now he teaches here at the school like he did before. He seems to be happier now. And though he and Wanda aren't on the best of terms, she doesn't seem to be as angry at him anymore. Pietro is still trying to get the attention of some of the girls at school, but he only seems to get a smack on the back of his head for his troubles.

Fred is dating a feisty gal named Tabitha. She is able to make energy balls with no trouble at all, but she seems to like getting into trouble and Fred helps her out of them, he's being very patient.

Lance is vying for Kitty's attention, but so is Peter. I wish she would make up her mind about which one she wants.

Rogue and Remy are practically joined at the hip; it will take surgery to separate them. Rogue has decided after college they would get married. It helped her make up her mind when she found she could control her power.

Bobby and Jubilee are an item that can't be beat. It got to be kind of strange here when his little brother showed up with a strong mutation. Bobby's ice … Ronny's fire.

James and Ororo got married at the same time Vic and I did and Jean and Scott, Raven and Stan. We decided to hold all the weddings at once. It was an eye spinning time!! We went on our honeymoons together in touring buses and made a caravan out of it, and travel just about all over the country having a great time. We got to know each other rather well.

Victor and I adopted a little girl who had lost her parents to a mutant hating mob, she has a great way with plants, and when she's older she'll probably bring back the rainforests.

Her name is Tina and she just wraps Victor around her little finger. She has a little brother now, his name is Max and he looks just like his daddy. Max is such a mellow little guy, and so well behaved that Victor is sure that something is terrible wrong with him. I assure him, Max is just fine.

Ororo and James had a little girl that they named Holly after Stan's little girl. You want to talk about energy? Well, she's what energy should be.

Scot and Jean have been putting off having any children, but I believe it won't be long before they do.

The Mutant Registration Act…bit the big one. It seems that when Senator Kelly was on the floor hawking the Act claiming mutants were so dangerous and all, it didn't seem to carry as much weight coming from him while; during his speech a sheriff from Alaska came in and arrested him in front of the assembly for murder. Another group wanted to arrest him for bribery and conspiracy with big companies to pass the Act so they could profit from the capture and buying, selling of said mutants. Most of Kelly's cronies were fighting for their careers and freedom when it was found out that they too had already accepted large amounts of money if they passed the Act. Now those who even thought to support the Act… run and hide for cover when it is even mentioned. Kelly was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, which suits me just fine.

Although the die hard mutant haters still makes it harder for mutants it's not really as bad as it was anymore. The government has asked Professor Xavier to head up the committee to fund and establish schools for the growing mutant population all over the country. He and Erick have work tirelessly to format plans for the schools and programs. Many of the countries are showing interests in the programs and schools as well. There is great pains to see that none of them are being used for …dare I say it…evil purposes.

I've learned to turn off my forecasting powers, but I usually look at least once or twice a day for the big stuff. I'm not expecting anything big for awhile, but it's coming soon, and when it does….I'll be ready.

Well, it getting late and Vic is still reading to Max and Tina, they just love to listen to him read to them. I think it's the Jungle Book by his old friend Rudyard Kipling. He does a great Shere Khan.


End file.
